Ancestor Of Time
by FLAMELASHER
Summary: 2038. Kronos is defeated. The Giants are defeated. Gaia slumbers once more. But something even older is about to be unleashed. A new generation of Demigods will fight for survival as the most powerful being ever is unleashed. Rated T for swearing.
1. Capture The Flag

**A/N: Hey guys, this is a story set in an Alternate Universe where the Romans and Camp Jupiter never existed. It's set in 2038, and follows a new generation of Demi-Gods.**

I crept through the bushes behind Zeus' Fist, Celestial Bronze sword glowing dimly in my hand. That wasn't helping me stay hidden, but thankfully, the two defenders of the Flag were busy snogging. Typical Aphrodite kid, caring more about sucking faces off than the Flag. I got close enough, then burst out of the undergrowth, slicing across the Aphrodite kid's arm before kicking her in the knee as she spun to face me. I heard it crack as it bent inwards. The other kid looked pissed. He slammed me in the chest and I went flying backwards into the bushes, but just then a blast of crackling orange energy brought the hlaf-blood Sonf of Aeolus to his knees. I saw Sophie, the beautiful child of Aeolus, striding towards the flag from behind, ornate runed staff resting lightly in her hand. Her light blonde hair, almost white, stayed perfectley styled despite her having crept through the undergrowth with me to get to Zeus' Fist.

"Stop drooling and get up!" she shouted at me.

"Uh... right..." I muttered as I climbed up.

I wasn't as p- lucky as her, and I was covered in moss and the sleeves of my shirt were slightly torn, probably by prickly bushes.

"'Prickly?' Really?" she asked.

Yeah, forgot to mention, she could sense what you were thinking. That creeped me out.

"It's a real word." I retorted.

"Shut up." she said.

"Being a child of Athena, I know these things." I continued.

"Owwwwwwwww!" cut in the child of Aphrodite.

Sophie blasted her with orange energy, and she went out cold. Ouch.

"It's painless." said Sophie, as a figure appeared behind her.

I was about to shout for her to look out when she dived to the floor. I hurled a knife, which the figure batted aside with a Stygian Iron sword. Sophie got back up and looked to see who it was. Henri, Son of Hades. Is it just me or do they all have foreign names? Sophie fired off a blast of her trademark orange energy at Henri, who blocked, absorbing it into his sword, and leapt at her. She sidestepped at my thought and I threw another dagger, tearing open Henri's shoulder. He stumbled back into a shadow and vanishedm relaced by a Skeleton. Sophie's blast had no effect on the skeleton, with slammed her with it's shield then raised it's sword. I sprinted forwards, throwing a dagger. I timed it just right, and my dagger cut off the skeleton's hand, making it drop it's sword into Sophie's waiting hands. Then I threw another dagger at the shadows behind Sophie, and a second before it hit one of the stones making up Zeus' Fist, Henri appeared and was hit in the chest. Well damn. Hopefully he'd be o-

"We're enemies, leave him." Sophie ordered.

"But this is just Capture the Flag. The knife missed his lungs, looks about 2 centimeters low, bu-" I started.

"Alright, I'll send up a signal." she Snapped.

A blast of orange energy flew into the clowds, and a few arrows flew our way.

"Good plan, Smartass!" she spat.

I threw a dagger, hitting the base of the flag and causing it to fall into my waiting hands. Then I bolted off into the forest, headed for a route that would take me away from the archer's positions. I heard a fight ahead, and saw a glimpse of a flag with and Owl on it. I threw a dagger, hitting the arm of it's holder. They dropped it and I burst into the clearing, drwaing my sword. My half-sister Jennasa was out cold, and two angry Ares kids were glaring at me, one holding a bloody dagger it their hand, the flag on the floor beneath them. I glanced around and saw a suitable fallen branch, then nudged it into position. They ran at me and the first one, who was holding my dagger in their unwounded hand, stepped on the back of it and it flung up, hitting him in the nose and throwing leaves into the air. I slid forwards, dodging a wild spear lunge, and sliced a thin cut on the attacker's forehead as the leaves touched down. He staggered and clutched his head, but he'd be fine. However, the other kid was even more pissed now, blood dripping from the nose AND hand. He lunged at me. I sidestepped and swung for his side, but he was too fast as he blocked with ease, then countered by slashing a deep gash in my leg. I swore and tumbled back as they kicked me in the chest. They were about to stab me with my throwing dagger when a blast of energy hit them in somewhere private.

"Thanks." I mumbled, turning to face Sophie.

"Give me the flag, and help your sister." she ordered.

"Half-sister." I said as I threw her the flag, trying to glare at her.

It didn't work, as she just smiled and I was defeated by her good looks. Damn her. She sprinted off and I knelt down to help Jennasa. She had a spear wound in her arm, and bruises on her face. I got out the vial of nectar I kept, and poured a few drops onto her wounds, then I put the vial back as she woke up, revelaing her grey eyes. We had them in common, but her hair was long, blonde and curly. My hair was more like Athena's, being black. But not long. My hair was short. I gave Jenassa a hand up, then told her Sophie was on her way back with the flag.

"You trusted her with the flag?" she asked.

I mumbled something like; "Hard not to."

"You've got to resist her charms, Tom! That could be your fatal flaw!" she said.

"She's on our side, she's no threat." I countered.

"I meant being controlled by charming girls, not her in paticular." Jenassa said.

"Uh... I knew that." I bluffed.

"Sure you did." she said, rolling her eyes.

I stayed silent as we headed to where Sophie was lifting the flag while darting to victory. Jenassa strung her shortbow and shot one of Sophie's pursuers in the foot, then 'missed' her next shot and hit Sophie's arm. Sophie swore and dropped the flag just as she crossed the boundary and won the match. The clapping wasn't very entuhsiastic, and Sophie was glaring at Jenassa.

After the match, she bumped into us and our half-brother Mark on the way back to the cabins, with a bandage on her curvy, tanned arm, and a snarl on her perfe- Damn It! Anyway, she was snarling at us, and Jenassa in paticular.

"Slu-" she started, but Jennasa hit her in the face.

She raised her arm and Jenassa fell to a burst of orange light. I stepped forward to help her but Sophie smiled seductivley at me. DAMN IT! Mark was about to hit her when she whipped around to smile at him to, and he backed away, blushing. She kicked Jenassa's sleeping form in her - private bits, which pissed me off. No one hit my half-sister there. Me and Mark punched Sophie at the same time. Sophie's staff appeared out of nowhere and she hit Mark in the face with it. Blood sprayed across his short blonde hair. I kicked Sophie back and drew my sword, but she was fast, and she hit my in the chest, then the top of the head. I fell face first into the mud, and heard Mark slam down next to me as a horse rode up to the scene.

"Enough of this." said Chiron's voice.

**Review and make my day. Be as harsh a possible, and tell me how to make this better. Thanks.**


	2. Typical Morning

**A/N: A quick chapter introducing the Athena Cabin and Amber, as well as giving a bit of personality to Mark, and Athena's eldest child, Grace. Hope you like it.**

"Wake up!" I heard someone shout.

"Uh.. what?" I mumbled.

"Wake up!" the same person shouted.

"Jus' a second..." I snored.

Suddenly my warm, cosy bed was gone, and instead there was a loud crash and a hard floor.

"Ow! Okay, I'll get up!" I shouted.

Five minutes later I was in the Dining Pavillion scraping a slice of bacon into the fire and murmuring 'Athena'. Then I walked over to the Athena table and sat down. We discussed tactics as we ate our breakfast. Before you compare us to Ares, allow me to say he's the god of pointless violence. Well, he should be, anyway. Whatever Ares was god of, we finished our Breakfast and I looked at my schedule. Combat Practice with the Apollo Cabin. They were good archers, and would be hard to beat.

I walked over to the Armory and pulled on my armor, grabbed a sword and belt of daggers, then slipped on my helmet. I met up with Jen, Mark, Rose and Lavender, two dark-haired twins, and our head councellor Grace. We quickly made a plan. Mark, Rose and Lavender would charge head on while me and Jen slipped around the right. When the Apollo Cabin started shooting at us, Grace would attack from the right and I would protect Jen while she covered Grace. It wasn't amazing, but in a small, sandy arena with only 6 people, what else could we do? We walked into the area, where the Apollo kids were waiting.

Mark banged his sword on his shield as he advanced, Rose and Lavender blocking a few arrow fired at him. Me and Jen took off, throwing knives and firing arrows at the Apollo kids. A few turned to face us and I realised I had no shield. I batted aside a few arrows but took one to the knee and winced. Thankfully, Grace chose that moement to burst into the Apollo rnaks and down 3 of their 9 people. They broke and scattered, 2 going for me and Jen. A boy, about 4 years older than me (making him 18) fired arrows as he ran behind a golden-haired girl about my age, who held a curved knife. Jen and the Boy, Jake, fired arrows at eahc other, dodging and ducking. The girl, Amber, swung her blade at my leg. I blocked and countered with a blow to her shoulder. She blocked and we exchanged blows for a while.

I realized we were equally matched, so I switched to a knife and tackled her. She went down and I swung for her arm, but she twisted, slamming me to the ground, and put her knife to my neck, leaning in. I realized the position we were in and blushed. She noticed too, and turned as red as the Ares Cabin. I took the chance to shove her off of me and slam her to the ground and went to hilt-slam her in the face, but she rolled free and scrambled up, her hair whipping around her body as she got back into a comabt pose. I threw two daggers at once, but she rolled under them and swung her dagger as they landed behind her. I sidestepped and drew my sword.

She threw her dagger, a move that caught me by surprise, and I barely batted it aside before she kicked me to the ground, picked up my sword, and pointed it at my forehead. She smiled at me tauntingly. But it wasn't a nasty taunt like Sophie's taunts, but more of a freindly one. I slimed back and surrendered, only just noticing that Jen, Mark and Grace were watching with interest. Rose was tending to Lavender, who had taken an arrow in the hip.

"You beat me, Amber. But I think you might want to surrender." I laughed.

She sighed and threw my sword off to the side.

"I still beat you, so don't laugh at me." she said, trying to keep a serious face.

It didn't work. Anyway, me and Mark had to carry an unconscious Apollo kid to the Infirmary before our Cabin moved on to climbing, one of my preferred activities. Hey, who couldn't hanging on small, rough handholds while a boudler crashed down beside you. Well, lots of people, but I got a thrill out of it. Like that time- I stopped my ADHD kicking in.

"Enjoy your duel?" asked Mark suggestivley.

"Shut up." I said, blushing.

"Has little Tommy got a girlfri-" he started teasing.

"Shut up." this time I growled it.

He was quiet until we reached the climbing wall, when we listed to Grace's plan. I swear she had a plan for everything. Anyway, we had to watch the pattern in the boulder falls then time our climb to avoid all of them. For ADHD kids, that's pretty hard. We climbed the wall perfectley though, then I realized Mark wasn't there. He had been too slow and the walls were about to crash together. I quickly pulled him up as the stone walls clashed together, causing Mark to nearly fall off. However, he caught himself and got down with no problem. Except for falling the last 5 meters. He never was any good at climbing.

It turned out he sprained his foot, so I had to help him limp to the infirmary. I will always regret the day I pissed off Grace.

-2 Months Earlier-

We were planning for a Combat Practice fight. Well, Grace was planning for a Combat Practice fight, the rest of us just stood around doing  
>nothing.<p>

"Sir, may we, your humble slaves, help your in any way?" I had grumbled.

The plan got changed so that I got beaten to a pulp, and Grace was pissed at me for ages afterwards.

-Present Time-

And she ws still pissed at me now. That girl really didn't forget things, and forgiving wasn't high on her priortiy list. In fact, it wasn't. I'd seen  
>it. She keeps organised notes on everything. I keep disorganised notes laying all over my desk, so I suppose I'm worse in terms of notes, but<br>still. I mean, she might as well be a child of Nemesis. A very organised, smart, inventive child of Nemesis, but still...

"Tom, you need to get back to the others." Mark said.

"Right. Sorry. ADHD hijacked my mind." I explained, then ran off.

**Your reviews will make my day. The harsher and stricter the better. See you soon. If you read Chapter 3. Which you might do. **


	3. Woodland Duel

**A/N: Couldn't upload from my Dads, but you get more content today.**

The time before lunch was free. Mark was in the infirmary, and I couldn't find my friend who had yet to be claimed, Sam, so I decied to go  
>for a walk in the forest. I walked along aimlessly, thinking up battle plans agaisnt Hellhounds who might be in the forest as I walked along.<br>Eventually I came to a small pond full of fish, and I sat on a rock nearby, staring into the water, daydreaming. I did that alot.  
>Daydreaming, not sitting on rocks or staring at water. Anyway, I was so absorbed in my daydream I dind't hear someone comming up<br>behind me until they were withing arm's reach. I turned to face them. She were fairly tall, lightly tanned and had golden hair. Amber.

"Um... Hi." I said.

"Hey." she greeted.

There was a short silence.

"World's longest conversation." I joked.

"Heh." she smiled.

"So..." I started.

"You want a rematch from earlier? Because you had a knee wound then." she asked.

"Yeah, sure." I answered.

I drew my Sword, which I had with me as a precaution, and she got her knife out from her belt, twirling it around. I swung first, going for  
>her foot, but she jumped forward and knocked me to the ground, tumbling past me and spinning round. She stabed but I rolled to the side<br>and got to my feet in time to block her next strike.

The duel went on with us circling around each other then unleashing flurries of blows. I quickly made a plan, and took the defensive as she  
>attacked. I let her knock my sword away, then I disarmed her and drove her back towards a tree. The knife wasn't like mine, but I<br>managed to use it mostly well. She had her back to the tree, so I pinned her there and held the knife's blade to her throat, victorious.

"I wi-" I started.

Then she shoved me back and I dropped her knife. She scooped it up and I grabbed a branch, then defend with it, catching her knife in it  
>an tossing it aside. We we both now unarmed. An Owl screeched and soared towards her, claws glinting, but a beam of sunlight blew it<br>into the ground. Another beam nearly hit me, so I ran into a deeper part of the forest. She had the sense to get her knife before following  
>me deeper into the trees.<p>

She fell right into my trap and I dodged her accurate knife swings a few times before an Owl dropped my Sword into my hand. I quickly  
>sliced across her cheek, trying not to hurt her too badly, and kicked her to the floor, which was blanketed in dead leaves. She dropped her<br>knife as she fell, and I snatched it from the air. I held the tip of my sword to her throat, and she surrendered. I got out my vial of Nectar  
>and passed it to her, then handed her the knife.<p>

"You're faster without the knee wound." she said.

"Nah, just more tactical in the woods than a plain circle of sand." I explained.

"Right." she said.

I took a step to the right.

She facepalmed.

"What?" I asked.

Then I realized, and I facepalmed.

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	4. Mystery Unsolved

**A/N: Just a bit of filler, with some hidden plot advancement. And it adds a new character. Sorry about the length, but it's hard to tell on my iPhone.**

"Ouch. Good morning." I mumbled.

I got up from the floor next to my bed.

"How did you piss off Hephaestus Cabin?" Grace asked.

See what I meant about her? In her mind, everything is my fault! Although I wondered what she was on about.

"Uh... What?" I asked.

"There is a Celestial Bronze column blocking the door." Grace explained.

It wasn't like her to joke around, but I played along.

"Must be the Olives I pit in Will's socks." I joked.

"What!" exclaimed Grace.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"He stole my Chaingun."

Grace gave me a death stare.

"Wait, you're serious?" I asked.

We eventually managed to push the column down. When we got outside it was nearly midday, and a Satyr was leading a small girl of about 6 or 7 into camp. She was short, and had curly blonde hair. Her eyes were grey, meaning she was probably a half-sister of mine.

"She looks young." Rose or Lavender said.

"Poor girl." said the other twin.

"Let's go see what's going on." Grace ordered.

We (the whole Athena Cabin) walked over. The girl's eyes were puffy and red from crying, and her Satyr had a cut down his arm. I saw him glancing around nervously. His club had a dent in it. Looked like they'd barely escaped a monster. Grace started interrogating the Satyr as he led the kid to the Big House. The rest of us followed, not sure what to do. When we got to the Big House we were told to go to the Archery Range. I was ok at Archery once I got used to the range I was firing at, but always missed my first few shots.

We got to the Range and took our Bows and Arrows. Jen was a great shot, almost as good as an untrained Apollo kid. I stood next to her, with Grace on my other side. With her hooded blue cape, she looked like a Ranger from Lord of the Rings. She was an ok shot, but couldn't quite adjust to sprinting targets. We fired arrows for a while. As usual, my first few arrows hit the back wall, but after that I landed a few hits. I watched how Jen was firing and tried to imitate it. I still wasn't anywhere near perfect, but I was a bit of a better shot. By the end, I was third in the cabin. Not too bad.

Next we had Greek lessons. For some reason, I'm not dyslexic when reading Greek, and neither are the other Demi-Gods. I was actually ok at Greek. I found reading English hard though, and for a child of the wisdom goddess, that was very frustrating. There's this dude in the Iris Cabin, and all he has is lactose intolerance. Which was really unfair. Anyway, I did very well at Greek today, getting 19/20 at the translation test. I confused Boot with Bolt, but that was my only mistake. I think the camp average was 13/20 or something.

**Harsh reviews please!**


	5. New Camper, New Quest

**A/N: Hey guys, here's another chapter for you. **

Turns out the little girl is one of my half-sisters, like I guessed she would be. She moved into the Athena Cabin and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Stephanie, but I like to be called Steph. A scary monster killed my D- My Daddy. And-" she tried to continue, but started crying.

Instantly, Rose and Lavender were there.

"Don't worry little girl." said Rose.

"It'll be okay." Lavender assured Stephanie.

The Twins were both very caring, and always worked together. They rarely went far from each other and they always added to each other's sentences. They were both quite tall, and had the grey eyes of all Athena's children. They had long black hair, and I could only tell them apart by wether or not it covered one of their eyes - that meant they were Rose. If it didn't, they were Lavender. They sounded exactly the same too, so I couldn't tell who was speaking while I wasn't looking. That had lead to a few embarrasing moments.

"You're here now." said Lavender.

"With us." Rose added to her twin's sentence.

"Ok. ok." mumbled Steph.

"A scary monster killed my Daddy. And then it tried to get me, but knocked itself out on a collumn that just appeared."

Grace raised an eyebrow at this.

"And then someone from the Secondary School helped me get here. He's a Satyr." finished Steph.

"I'm Rose." said Rose.

"And I'm Lavender." added Lavender.

"You're twins, aren't you." said Steph.

If Steph hadn't just arrived in a strange place after her Dad was killed, I would have facepalmed.

"Yes, we are." said Lavender.

"I'm Jenassa, but you can call me Jen." said Jen.

Anyway, Me, Mark and Grace introduced ourselves. Then I had to fill her in on what Camp was about, and take her on a tour.

"These are the cabins. There's twelve, one for each-" I started as we walked out.

"God?" she guessed.

"Yep." I said.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" I heard someone shout in the distance, followed by a crunch.

"Stay here." I ordered.

I bolted towards where the sound came from. It was over by the lake, and there was a huge... Thing. It had long, muscly arms that drooped below it's relativley short legs. It's skin was the color of skin that had been dragged through Tartarus, and it had hammer heads where it's hands should be. It had one big, glistening eye on it's forehead, and a crushed canoe was drifting up to the shore, a camper sprawled inside it. I leapt to the right as it swwung it's hammer fist at me. More campers closed in, and one threw me a sword. I caught it and glanced back to see who tossed me it. My unclaimed friend Sam. He was short and blonde, with brown eyes. He had an appetite for destruction, but wasn't heavily built like the Ares kids, being more like a Hermes kid in frame. He also had a mischeivous streak, which made him more like a Son of- I dodged a stomp from the monster.

The Monster swung at me again, and this time it's hammer fist hit a shimmering blue field. A tall, thin boy with dark hair and brown eyes approached, holding up a staff. The beast hit the shield again, and it burst. Henri, the Son of Hades, popped up behind the monster and sliced through the back of it's clammy, toe-less foot. It staggered forwards and I jumped, catching onto it's knee, then I stabbed it in the knee. It roared and tossed me off. A blue mist wrapped around me, lowering me safely to the ground. Henri appeared under me before I landed and sprinted at the monster. It slammed it's fist down at him, but the pale, crimson haired boy leapt onto it's arm and sprinted up it, dragging his sword along it's flesh. It roared and slammed it's hammer fist on the arm Henri was on. Just before it hit, Henry vanished and reappered behind the tall mage.

There was a cracking sound as the monster broke it's own arm. Sam sprinted in, throwing a Spear at the monster, hitting it in an area I don't want to describe, then hacking at it's foot, causing a spurt of blood. The monster stomped and Sam tumbled to his feet. The Ares kid I had knifed in the hand in CTF fired a shotgun at the beast, tearing open it's lower leg. He had the sense to shoot the alreadt beate up leg, and the monster fell flat. Crushing him. Shit. From the ground, the monster bit the arms off of a Hermes Camper, and spat them out at Henri, who dodged. Skeletons appeared and charged into the monster's mouth. While it was crunching, everyone swarmed it, cutting into it's head. In a few seconds, there was nothing left but golden dust. We dragged the Son of Ares out from the dust.

An Apollo Camper called Glen crouched down to examine him. Glen was tall and tanned, and had sandy. He tested the Son of Ares' heartbeat via his chest, then wrist, then neck. Then he shook his head. Damn. Just because I hated the Ares Campers, didn't mean I wanted them to die. Glen tried to revive the Ares Camper with healing magic, but he had no luck. My mind turend to what the hell that monster was. I hadn't heard about it before, and I know all the tales and modern logbooks well. A few other Demi-Gods were staring at the dust, confused looks on their faces. Then I noticed the dust was floating somewhere. I grabbed a few handfuls and stuffed it in my back pocket, zipping it up. It might turn out to be useful. A few other people also grabbed some, copying me. Because no one else was epic like me.

As I had expected, Chiron** (A/N: Not in Spellcheck, but Charon is)** called for a quest to find the source of this. I was there because he called it where everyone was gathering, around the dead monster. A few people asked how we planned to find it.

"I know how!" I shouted, making myself heard.

All eyes turned to me.

"The Golden Dust it turned into. It was floating away, right?" I asked everyone a rhetorical question.

"Yeah." a few people mumbled.

"Well, it was floating away from LA, towards Miami. That means it's not headed for the underworld." I continued.

"One problem smart ass - it floated away!" shouted a pissed off Daughter of Ares.

They don't get sad, just pissed off.

"I've got some in my pocket." I countered.

They didn't have a reply to that.

And so the quest was decided. I was to lead it. I went to the Oracle's Cave to get a prophecy.

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	6. Teamwork Fail

**A/N: 1001 Words of story for you:**

I walked up to the cave. It was deep in the forest, atop a hill, and the cave mouth was covered with dangling grass, and torches on either side  
>belched out violet smoke. I wasn't sure if I just walked in or knock the stone with my sword hilt or something. The Oracle used to be a dried<br>up old mummy, but now it was a mortal girl who could see through the mist. I stood around awkwardly, not sure what to do.

"Is someone out there?" I heard a woman's voice call.

"Uh, yeah..." I said.

"Come in." she replied.

I brushed through the dangling grass. It reminded me of these strips my nan has over her back door. Except thinner and greener. And  
>without patterns. Inside, the cave was awesome. There was comfy-looking sofas by polished tables covered in stacks of magazines, and a<br>huge LCD TV. I gussed it was 100 inches. Yep, that big. Through a hole in the cave there was another room, with an Xbox 720, PS4 and Wii  
>U, and stacks of games on a table. And through the other hole, I caught a glimpse of a HUGE cavern filled with chairs facing a cinema screen.<br>No fair, I wanted to be the Oracle. Speaking of the Oracle, she was lounging on a sofa, putting down a magazine. She had thick but short-ish  
>curly ginger hair, and intelligent green eyes. She was well built, and had nice- Uh, nevermind. Anyway, she was certainly a lot nicer to look at<br>than a mummy.

"I'm here for a prophecy." I said.

"Ok, just ask me and the Oracle will come out." she replied.

"What is my destiny? No? What is my quest?" I asked.

Her eyes claped shut and green mist poured out of the her mouth, and filled the cave. She spoke in a old, dead voice. When the prophecy  
>ended, her eyes flickered open. She looked tired.<p>

"Get what you need?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks." I said.

I walked out of the cave, thinking about the first line of the prophecy.

'Six shall following the Golden Mist'

It was obvious enough, but the six surprised me. I mean, most quests are for three people, so this was probably something big and important.  
>I told Chiron and he told me to gather my companions. I mentally ran through a list of people. Sam would be eager to come on this one, and<br>maybe it'd earn him a claiming, so he was coming. I needed someone who could heal, and I thought of Amber from Apollo. Okay, that's three  
>people (including me). Henri was good against the monster, so he was in. Four. I needed another thinker, so I decided to bring my friend and<br>half-brother Mark along. Five. I decided to go with a girl; around my age from the Ares Cabin. She would want revenge for her half-brother,  
>because as far as I knew they had been close. Her name was Jule. I wandered around, searching for the demi-gods. I found Sam battling the<br>Ares Cabin with a few other Hermes kids, and Jule was there too. Amber was at the Archery Range. Despite her focusing on knife combat, she  
>was a great archer. Henri took a while to find, but he was climbing the wall. Last, I collected Mark from the Lake. He was the one Athena<br>demi-god who was good in a canoe.

We gathered and got into Argus' Van after we visited the armory. I chose a sword and a few belts of daggers. Sam went for javelins and  
>swords, while Henri had his Stygian Iron sword. Amber had her dagger, and she grabbed a bow and quiver of arrows. Jule opted a fistful of<br>barbed spears and a shield. Mark grabbed a sword and shield, as well as a dagger. We got an airtight bag of cash and drachmas, and a map of  
>the USA. Pfft, like I needed one. We were dropped off by a bus station in Brooklyn. Brooklyn gave me a bad feeling, like there was something<br>hostile around. Most demi-gods mentioned this, but there was almost never any problems, unlike in Manhattan, so I wasn't complaining. We  
>got out of the van and looked around. I took a tiny bit of dust from my back pocket and let it go. It headed towars Miami, nothing new. We<br>headed in that direction, eventually leaving New York.

"We need transport." said Mark.

"Yeah." Me and Sam said at the same time.

"Just nick a car." said Jule.

Jule had long black hair and brown eyes. She was open to theft as much as most Children of Hermes.

"There's a little thing called the law." Mark said.

"Meh." cut in Henri.

"Plus, who here can drive?" I said.

"Meh." Henri said; "We'll adapt."

Amber rolled her eyes.

"And die in a car crash?" asked Mark.

"Bet I can drive." said Sam.

"Bet I can reach the pedals." I countered.

"Oi!" he shouted.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"Stop flirting." grumbled Jule.

"Shut it." I growled.

She reached for one of her spears, glaring at me.

"This is getting us nowhere." said Amber.

"Thank you!" I said.

"So, back to us needing transport." Mark said.

"Shadow Travel?" suggested Henri.

"Can you Shadow Travel all of us?" I asked.

"Meh." he mumbled.

"Taxi?" asked Mark.

"We don't have THAT much money." I said.

"Mug someone?" asked Jule.

"Law." Mark said.

"Bus?" suggested Mark.

"Yeah, lets walk through a bus full of mortals armed to the teeth with weapons." said Henri.

"The Mist will hide that." Mark said.

"Not enough." I pointed out.

"How about we store our weapons in bags?" Amber said.

In the end, were ended up doing that and taking a bus, testing we were headed in the right direction every so often. Thankfully, we took up  
>the entire back row. I ended up with a window seat next to Amber, meaning I sat kind of awkwardly for the whole trip.<p>

**How was it? HARSH REVIEWS PLZ.**


	7. Bus Warrior

**A/N: A very short, action-packed chapter.**

The Bus was thrown to the side as something roared. It landed on it's side, leaving me at the top of the bus. I tumbled down, lande on top of Amber. Awkward. I pushed up off of her, careful to avoid touching anywhere 'naughty'. I smelt smoke as I ran to the front of the bus and dived out of the front window. One word - ouch. The glass shards exploded everywhere, some cutting my skin. I rolled forwards on teh smoking concrete outside. I looked around and saw one of the monsters from camp. Except this one was on fire and not in pain. Crap. A thrown dagger sliced against it's skin, and it turned to face me. I dived out of the way of it's charge. It barrled into some trees by the roadside, tearing them down. It turned round and a beam of sunlight explode against it's head. It staggered and grabbed up a tree, hurling it at me. I hit the dirt. Well, concrete. The tree smashed into the bus.

"GET THE MORTALS TO SAFETY!" I shouted.

Jule charged past me, throwing a spear into the monster's chest, and jumping up to it and balancing on it through luck. Then she jumped and plunged a spear into it's jaw. She was grabbed and thrown off. I saw Mark catch her and fall to the ground. Amber was firing arrows into the monster, having decided (probably) that her knife wouldn't do much damage. The monster reached for a mortal when Henri appeared from nowhere and tackled them, vanishing them both. Or making them both vanish. Whatever. Henri reappeared and saved another mortal. I wondered what they were seeing. An Elephant? No, wrong climate. Maybe a- SHIT! I felt flames spreading across my body. Somebody grabbed me and rolled me around, putting out the fire.

Amber helped me to my feet, gripping my hand in hers. I looked her in her eyes. Her light blue eyes, like the water in a tropical- Stop. Focus on the freaking monster. I turned around only to be smacked full pelt by a flying Jule. I shoved her off of me and had a Owl dive for the monster's eyes. It tore deep, bleeding gashes all over the monster's face, allowing me to run up to it, stab it where it hurts, and have a cascade of golden dust fall on me. I saw Mark scooping some up. I hung my sword by my belt and sat down as the golden dsut drifted away, still headed towards Miami.

"What now?" scowled Jule.

"Um..." I 'said'.

"We're nearly in Trenton." Mark said.

"How'd you know that?" said Henri.

"Sign." Mark said simply.

I did a quick head count.

Me. Amber. Mark. Henri. Jule.

"Where's Sam?" I asked.

I heard moaning from the bus.

**Reviews please. Make 'em harsh!**


	8. Worst Date Ever

**A/N: A bit of romance, a bit of combat.**

First thing we did when we arrived in Trenton was drop Sam off at the Hospital. Then we decided to have some fun in the city while Sam was fixed up. Jule trudged off to visit the Old Barracks. Mark headed for the New Jersey State Museum. Henri headed off somewhere he didn't name. That left me and Amber.

"Hey, you want to go somewhere nice?" I asked, surprising myself.

"Sure. I hear there's a nice City Park." she replied.

I guess I just got myself a date. Thank you ADHD. We brought some sandwiches, a few packs of walkers crisps and a 6-pack of coke with some of the money we were given for the quest. I guess this was a morale boost or something? We wandered through the park until we found a nice spot in the forest by a stream. We sat down by the edge of the water and put down some paper plates were had brought. We each had two sandwhiches and a pack of crisps. As we ate, we struck up a conversation.

"So, um... What's the story with your knife?" I asked, noticing it on her hip.

"I came across an abbandoned Hunt Camp while looking for Camp Half-Blood. I found this knife and found myself getting attached to it." she explained.

"I guess that's why you use it over a bow?" I questioned.

"Yeah, kinda. But I also feel safer knowing that I can fight up close." she said; "But being good at ranged combat too is helpful."

"I know, I've got a few belts of throwing knives. Very useful." I said.

"So what's up with that?" she asked.

"I just saw it in this movie. It's quite good, we should watch it together sometime." I replied.

"Sure, if we come back from this alive." she said.

"Relax, we've got a good team together, we'll be fine." I assured her.

"Yeah, I know. But better safe than sorry." she said.

Grey clouds started blowing in.

"Damn." I said.

Then sunlight broke through them. Amber took a few deep breaths, then returned to normal.

"Cool power." I noted.

She smiled.

"Yeah." she expanded greatly on my point.

Well, not really.

We talked for a while longer, joking, laughing and getting to know each other. Then we leaned towards each other and our lips touched. Hers were warm and tasted like I imagined sunlight did. I wrapped my arms around her as she pushed her lips against mine harder. I pulled away for air and looked into her eyes, which drew me in and I kissed her again. Her hands slipped under my shirt and ran her hands over my chest, feeling my muscles. My hands went into her hair, and then we pulled apart again.

"That was... amazing." I breathed.

"So, are we together now?" she asked.

I saw hope in her eyes.

"Is that what you want?" I asked.

"Yes." she answered.

We leaned in to kiss again, but then I heard something in the trees behind us. I drew my sword and turned to the forest. A Cyclops lumbered out, holding a heavy spiked club and dressed in thin grey battle armor. It swung it's club at me and I leapt backwards. Amber drew her knife and bolted past it, slicing a cut in it's side. It backhanded her, sending her crashing into a tree. I slid between it's legs and came up next to Amber, and helped her to her feet. The Cyclops leapt at us, slamming it's club into the ground near us. We stepped in opposite directions, and both lunged at the same time, our blades touching in the Cyclops' body before it dissolved like a sand castle in a hurricane. More grey-clad figures stepped out of the woods, wielding long, thin blades. They were humans, and they quickly surrounded us. A burst of sunlight shot down, exploding at two of the Grey Warrior's feet and causing them to be blown backwards, skin steaming. One of them lunged for Amber, who dodged and sliced through their throat as I batted aside a stab and stabbed my assailant in the chest. More came at us, and we went back to back, spinning and slicing, batting aside blows and only breaking apart to dodge extra forceful attacks. Jule burst into the clearing and impaled one of them. She must have seen the beam from the sun.

Skilled as we were, we were badly outnumbered, and growing tired. I was knocked to my knees by a shield bash and Amber was hit in the shoulder by two arrows, bringing her down to the ground. Jule went down last, tackled by a warrior with duel swords. They got kicked away, but not before stabbing Jule. A helmeted Grey Warrior stepped towards us, holding a midnight black sword - probably Stygian was a few flashes of light above us, but no one else noticed. Henri appeared in the shadows and attacked the helmeted Grey Warrior, skeleton guardians warding off the other Grey Warriors. Mark came bursting into the area, sword and shield at the ready. He lunged for a Grey Warrior about to stab Henri in the back. I leapt to my feet and sliced one across the chest, and Jule got up, spinning her spear around one-handed, the other clasping her wounded hip. I tossed a vial of Nectar to Amber, who took a few drops and got to her feet, pocketing it. She threw her knife into one Grey Warrior's eye. They fell down and a burst of sunlight warded off a Grey Warrior as Amber retrieved her knife.

Jule held out her hand and Amber threw her the Nectar, which she splashed a bit of on her thigh. She tossed it to me, and I stowed it away in the maximum security prison known as my pocket, realizing we could have used it to heal Sam. Too late now. I dodged a spear lunge and lopped off two arms. More of the helmeted Grey Warriors charged into battle. Their helmets looked a bit like Jannisary helmets from the time of the Ottoman Empire. Just without the gold. They were skilled swordsmen, and I found myself backing away from one, struggling to block their blows. Amber span away from her fight and stabbed them in their back, and I cut down her attacker. Henri had already brought down 3 of them, and Mark was just stabbing one after kneeing them where it hurt. Jule caught a blade on her spear shaft and twisted her spear, hurling the blade out of the area. Then she plunged her spear through the Grey Warrior's eye, into their head. Eventually they all fell to our onslaught.

A Grey Warrior wearing all Gold walked up towards us, batting aside Amber's arrows and my throwing knives like they were slow-moving fluffy toys. He threw his sword, hitting me in the chest. Everything went dark.

**Remember to post a review picking apart EVERY problem. Or just something as small as 'Good chapter, update'. But if possible, be harsh. Please?**


	9. Ouch

**A/N: A bit of action and a bit of stealth and a bit of plot.**

I woke up in a pool of my own blood. Ouch. The sword wasn't in me anymore. Ouch. Well, that was a start. Ouch. I pushed myself up to my feet. Ouch. I slipped my palm over my wound. Ouch. I felt blood trickling down my back. Ouch. I saw how plate my hand was. Ouch. I remembered my vial of nectar. Ouch. I reached for my pocket. Ouch. I fumbled around in my pocket. Ouch. I felt shards of glass. Ouch. I pulled my hand out, seeing it was covered in Nectar. Ouch. I rubbed my hand over my wound. Ouch. It started to heal a bit. Ouch. I rubbed my back, where the blood was coming from. The bloodflow stopped. Ouch. I limpd towards the exit of the park. Ouch. Someone offered to drive me to the hospital. Ouch. I refused. Ouch. I needed to get Sam. Ouch. He should have had his burns and cuts from the bus explosion fixed up by now. Ouch. I limped through the streets. Ouch. I realized Sam would be waiting at the hospital. Ouch. I was too weak to facepalm. Ouch. Epic fail. Ouch.

I saw a Grey Warrior walking down the street, another standing by his side. Ouch. I crouched in some bushes. Ouch. I heard them talking. Ouch.

"We need to get to the hospital. Ugly said there's a demigod there." said one.

Damn. Ouch. That would be Jule. Ouch. Spilling the beans about Sam. Ouch.

"How do we get there before the boss does?" the other said.

"He's dropping the captives at Alpha Base." the first replied.

Alpha Base. Ouch. I'd have to interrogate someone about that. Ouch. The Grey Warriors walked along. Ouch. I took one knife that hadn't been looted from me. Ouch. I saw one Grey Warrior had a Magnum. Ouch. I snuck up behind him. Ouch. I grabbed him around the neck, holding the knife to his neck. Ouch. The movement made my body scream in pain. Ouch. I drew his pistol with my free hand. Ouch. I aimed and pulled the trigger. Ouch. The Grey Warrior fell. Ouch. I slit the other's throat. Ouch. I looted the first body. Ouch. Ammo. Ouch. I checked the other body. Ouch. Painkillers. Ouch. Yes! I swallowed a few of the pills and got to my feet as the pain faded until it was fairly dull. Then I saw the policeman aiming his gun at me. Really?

"Hands up!" he shouted.

I looked at the bullets in the clips I looted. Celestial Bronze and Mortal Bullets, in seperate clips. I prayed to Athena and fired at the Cop. I wasn't a marksman. In fact, I'd only once or twice used Handguns that my Dad used to scare off pigeons. I had aimed for the center mass and it paid off. The round tore through the Cop's shoulder. I murmured a thank you to Athena as I dropped another round into the Cop's foot. I limped over to the Cop, who was writhing on the ground in pain. Yes, limped, painkillers don't work like they do in video games. I aimed for his body. No, I wasn't going to shoot him.

"Them guys fucked up my date, shot my new girlfriend, took her and my friends captive, and tossed a SWORD INTO MY CHEST! See the tear in my shirt and the blood all over me? And you try to shoot me?" I shouted.

I stomped on him and he groaned in pain. Then I noticed his partner, in cover behind the Police Car's door. He popped up and fired a shot, hitting me in the shoulder and causing a fresh explosion of blood. I dropped the rest of the clip one handed into the door, the bullets making a rough upwards line where the recoil took it's effect. The Cop was visible under the gap between the door and the ground. He was laying in a pool of his own blood. I knew how that felt. Although I had one big wound, not several smaller ones. But I knew how lying in a pool of your own blood felt. It wasn't nice. It was more- fucking painful. I heard sirens. Oh, shit! I dived back into the bushes, careful to keep hold of the gun to avoid them getting my DNA from it. With the blood and mud covering my face, I'd be hard to identify. The Cop Cars (three of them) arrived and six Cops poured out, flashing guns around and getting the one or two witnesses to leave the scene. This would be problematic. I crawled away through the bushes.

An hour later I reached the hospital and saw a van pulling up outside. The driver was a helemted Grey Warrior. The passenger got out and headed in. He wore casual clothes, but had a gun and sword at his hip. The sword was covered in dry blood. He walked into the hospital and I crouched in the bushes outside. The city had lots of bushes. That was rather useful. I heard talking, made out words. Here. Collect. Sam. Where. Just. In. I peeked out and saw Sam walk in, with a few bandages over him. The guy's clothes turned to gold Grey Warrior armor. He was the Gold Warrior. That meant the blood was... Oh god, there was so much of my blood on his sword! He drew his gun, and another, presumably from his other hip. One pointed at the attendant, the other at Sam. I burst in and there was a crack of gunfire as I shot at him, hitting him in the head. The round dented and cracked his armor before falling to the ground. He span to face me, and I saw his fingers tighten on the triggers. Then Sam tackled him and wrestled the guns from him. He was kicked back. He got on his feet and fired, the rounds missing completley. The Gold Warrior drew his sword and swung it back behind him.

"DODGE!" I shouted.

Sam complied and dived to the side as the sword flew past him and hit the wall. The Gold Warrior thrust his palm out and Sam slammed into the wall next to the sword, which flew back into his hand. He turned to me and wild winds thre me into the roof. I fell down and hit the ground hard. He stepped towards me and raised the sword. A security guard burst in and fired one shot. Wild winds span around the Gold Warrior and the bullet was tossed aside. The Gold Warrior shoved the Security Guard with a strong wind and he went shooting backwards. The other Grey Warrior entered and charged me. The Gold Warrior ran away as Sam fired at the Grey Warrior, blowinh his/her/it's shoulder open. They staggered backwards and I shot them through the leg.

"Where is your Alpha Base?" I shouted,a iming at him.

A figure covered in blood, with his shirt torn up, ugly bruises all over his chest, surrounding a scar dripping with small bits of blood, and a face obscured with blood and mud must have been scarier than I thought, as he answered.

"2 miles south-east of the city perimiter! Please! Don't kill me!" they screamed in a high-pitched voice.

I couldn't trust them. Plus I wasn't happy with any dudes from their order. So I shot him. I felt a pang of regret, but pushed that to the back of my mind. He had tried to kill me. But he'd stopped being a threat. But he was an enemy. But- I stopped thinking about the guy I just shot.

**Don't forget to review my story harshly and/or say NO to SOPA! Please.**


	10. Rescue Mission

**youtube.c om/watch?v=46tS09yBc9I**

We crouched outside the Grey Warrior's hidden base. It was a long, low wooden structure, and it looked quite Scandanavian, with the craving of a face above the doorway and thatched roof. Two Grey Warriors stood guard by the double doors. I had looted some Ambrosia from the Grey Warrior I shot. In cold blood. I was regretting that already, but... What's done is done. Anyway, I was all fixed up and me and Sam were ready to kick some ass. Sam sprinted forward and leapt at the Grey Warrior on the left, stabbing him with a looted sword. I used my dagger to cut down the other guard.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah." he replied in an exicted tone.

We both kicked down one of the doors. Grey Warriors charged us. One got a knife to teh face, the next had his chest torn open. A knife sailed through the air and hit one in the forehead. Dual swords flashed, bringing down another two. I blocked a blow and rammed my blade through one's chest. I let him keep it and batted aside a lunge before hacking down my attacker. Sam was whirling around, his sword leaving a path of bodies. Rounds missed him, and no blade got through his defense. I ducked under a spear lunge, and stabbed the spear's holder through the bottom of their head. My sword came out of the top of their head covered in blood. I tossed the body aside and tosssed their spear at a helmeted Grey Warrior, who dived to the side and rolled to his feet. We exchanged blows and he came away missing his head. Me? A small cut above my eyebrow. I aimed my Magnum and dropped a round into the head of one who was aiming for Sam. Speaking of Sam, he skirted around a helmeted warrior's guard and sliced the side of their chest open.

I kicked an enthusiastic Grey Warrior back and shot them in the point where their lungs touched. The next attacker was pistol whipped then stabbed. Three came at me at once, putting me on the defensive. A thrown spear went through two of them and I high-fived Sam after cutting down the last one. We came to a trapdoor. I kicked it open and dropped into the tunnels. Two Grey Warriors with flaming swords and tower shields came at us. I managed to stagger one with a clip of bullets to the shield, then cut him down, and stabbed his partner in the now un-defended side. 6 more came at us. I quickly came up with a plan, and held my hands up. They ordered me to drop the gun. I did, and my sword tip got jammed in the trigger guard. Shots rang out and the fell. With both weapons now useless, I grabbed a flaming sword and Sam did the same. A Cyclops Grey Warrior charged down the corridor. Sam threw a spear, which got jammed in it's armor. I waited for it to get close, and used a stratergy Percy Jackson had mentioned in his auto-biographical book, The Last Olympian. Which one? You'll see.

I slid under the Minotaur and stabbed it in the gap between it's unmentionables. I managed to pull my magic sword out. At least, I assumed the flames were magic. Two centaurs rode at us. I grabbed two spears and used them to swing up and kick both of the Centaurs. They stopped their charge long enough for Sam to cut them down. I picked up my sword again and continued. The Gold Warrior was in the next room, backed up by Grey Warriors with gold trims on their armor. Their was a few tables scattered around, with food, drinks and keys on them. In the side of the room was cells. Holding my friends. I charged the Gold Warrior, but a blast of wind hurled me backwards. I got up and charged. There was an explosion and Sam leapt through the hole into another level, chased by the gold trim warriors. I leapt forwards at the Gold Warrior again, this time overturning a table for cover. I rammed my blade through it to keep it in place as he sent bursts of wind at it, helpfully putting out the fire. I heard him panting and vaulted over the table, blade at the ready. I swung and he blocked before countering with a blow to my neck, which I ducked under as I kneed him in the chest. He staggered back and I swung at him. He dived to the side and fell in the hole. Lol.

I grabbed some keys and unlocked the cells. Amber was freed first, and she hugged and kissed me. I told her to save it for later. Then I freed Henri, then Mark, then Jule. That was everyone. They grabbed improvised weapons, including bits of broken table, knives, forks and a pie. What? WHAT? Anyway, I told them to go back and get real weapons. They complied with my orders and I leapt into the hole, to see Sam barely survinving. Surprise is a powerful thing, and I cut down three of Sam's seven attackers before they noticed me. I blocked a blow, then dodged, took off an arm, rolled forwards, sliced a stomach open, batted aside a lunge, and watched Sam's sword burst through my attacker's back. Then the Gold Warrior came in. I grabbed a table and angled it so his wind was redirected, blowing us up to the prison room. I noticed lockers and hacked them open, finding all our proper gear. I threw it to everyone as we made our escape. Unfortunatley, the Gold Warrior had followed us. Amber fired arrows and unleashed sunblasts as Henri danced throug the shadows, slicing at the Gold Warrior. Everyone else tried to get through his guard, but he was too strong. We were forced to retreat from his onslaught, all of us with minor wounds.

**Can I haz a review please. Even just a full stop. Please, Americans. And fellow Britons. And Germans. And French people. And Africans. And Demi-Gods. And everyone else reading this.**


	11. The Trail Shifts

**A/N: Welcome back guys! I figured out how to post from my dads, so I'l try to get out 2 or 3 chapters over the weekend.**

We eventually ended up back in Trenton, and decided to stay there for the night. We found a nice looking hotel and tried to get a room for 6, but they didn't have any, so we instead got 2 rooms of 3. Me and Amber were together, and everyone wanted to go in the other room. Eventually I thought of 3 numbers between 1 and 4 (1, 2, 3) and if you got one you were put in the other room. We ended up with Mark. Could have been worse. I really didn't want to share with Jule. That would have been very awkward, considering she wants to rip out my guts. For no apparent reason. Then again, she wants to rip out everyone's guts. Anyway, I was getting bored when she decided to take a shower, leaving me and Amber alone. I walked over to where she was sitting on her bed. Yes, her bed, we weren't sleeping together. We hadn't been dating that long. In fact, we hadn't been dating, because as far as I know 1 date isn't dating. Especially if it's cut short by a small army of Grey Warriors.

"Finally she's gone." Amber said.

"Mmm-hmm." I 'said'.

"Thanks for rescuing me." she whispered.

Jule wouldn't even let her say that, in case it lead to anything like kissing, which she couldn't stand. Probably because she'll never do it.

"No problem." I said, then added; "I don't suppose I get a reward?"

"Yes, you do." she said, leaning in.

We kissed and I pulled her to her feet, wrapping my arms around her waist, hers going around my neck. After a while we pulled away.

"That was a pretty good reward." I breathed.

"It's not over yet." she whispered, winking.

We kissed again, this time I got a little brave and moved my hands over her butt, squeezing lightly. She moaned in pleasure and pushed up closer to me, before we pulled apart again, partly for air, partly because we couldn't hear the shower.

"Damn." I muttered.

We got to Virginia without incident, and went to a town called Virginia Beach, which, needless to say, was on the coast. It was an independent city, so I wasn't sure if it was legally part of Virginia. Probably not. Anyway, it had miles of coast and lots of hotels and restaurants. It was a pretty peaceful place, and we figured we could stop for a day of sunbathing. Or, for most of us, laying on the sand and staring at my girlfriend. The other girl in the group was HARD to look at, but that didn't mean I was happy with them staring at my girlfriend. Thankfully a bunch of random mortals kept them distracted. So instead I worried about getting caught staring at Amber. I didn't want her to think I was a pervert. Our gear was in ours bags at our feet, and my Sword was buried under some nearby sand, with the hilt sticking out, just in case. We had chosen to sunbathe away from the statue of Poseidon, because he hated Athena and her kids (READ: Me and Mark). We spent a few ours on the beach, getting very slight tans, before anything bad happened. I heard a roar in the distance and pretty soon the Minotaur was charging us. I pulled my sword from the sand and grains from it swirled around my legs as I got ready to sidestep. The Minotaur shot past me as I stepped to the left and stabbed to the right, cutting into it's side. It roared and span to face me, getting a War Axe from it's back. It leapt at me, trying to cleave me in half, but I rolled out of the way and lunged, my blade sinking into it's arm, before being pulled out and tossed aside. An arrow whizzed by it's head and it charged Amber. I leapt at it, pulling back it's horns and kneeing it. I roared as I fell backwards off it, holding two minotaur horns. I lunged and stabbed two holes into it's back, before being finished off by one of Amber's arrows.

Unfortunately the Virginia Beach Police decided to send a SWAT Team at us. We had ditched the guns, and Amber's arrows and a few of Sam's javelins was all we had keeping them in cover behind cars and small walls. They kept popping up as we sprinted further down the beach, firing off shots from their Machine Guns, kicking up sand, which was very nice of them. It hid our faces while we were leaning forward during our bursts forward or while we were crouching and watching Amber and Sam return fire. Eventually, we managed to escape the town, but the SWAT Team followed us in vans. We set up and ambush and popped their tires, then, with our faces covered in some very useful dirt and mud, attacked. We mostly fought with kicks and disarms, then fired bullets at their legs. One got very unlucky as Amber failed to control her gun's recoil. I hoped he didn't plan on having kids. Eventually, through luck and our demi-god ability to feel bullet currents in the air, we managed to not only survive, but knock out the entire SWAT Team. I had taken a few rounds to the leg, Sam was bleeding through the shoulder, and Jule had a few new scars in the making. Thankfully, we had some Nectar and Ambrosia, so we were fixed up pretty soon, although we left a few of the minor wounds, such as very small cuts from rounds that had only just grazed us. All in all, all the attack had done was spoil our sunbathing session. Nice work, assholes. Although I really wanted to go back and sneak more peeks at Amber in her underwear, I decided that it was a better tactical move to keep heading towards the place the gold dust was drifting to. Still in the vague direction of Miami. Easy enough.

However, we now had the problem of transport, as the SWAT Van, was no only very suspicious, but none of us could actually drive, and I didn't feel like taking any more risks with crime/car jacking. So the only option was to walk. We got dressed into our clothes rather than our shorts (or underwear in Amber's case, and unfortunately for whoever looks in a specific direction, Jule's) When we eventually stopped to sleep overnight at a small roadside hotel, I decided to check the golden dust again. I walked outside and got a pinch of it from my back pocket, then I released it. It started flowing towards a Mountain in the Distance, that I could barely see. I brought a map and checked it, looking for what the mountain could be. I eventually found it - Mount Mitchell, the tallest mountain on this side of the Mississippi. Reading the word Mississippi was very hard with my dyslexia, and it being so tiny and squished near the mountain icon didn't help. So, yes, it took me about 10 minutes to learn that fact. After that I went up to the room, which was for 6. I got into my bed and tried to sleep, confused about the sudden change in the dust's direction. I checked the map again by the light of my bedside lamp, but didn't see anything obvious. But that was a mystery for another day.

**Not only another day, but also another chapter and another viewpoint! Harsh reviews, say no to SOPA. And thanks for the review Joshua Jackson. What parts did you like most? What parts did you like least?**


	12. Shit Gets Bad

**A/N: Shit just got serious.**

I got out of my Jaguar XK, a sleek maroon car, my clothes morphing into my custom golden armor. My two best friends, Ricky and Kieran, walked up behind me, clad in gold trimmed silver armor. Following them was a group of Grey Warriors with golden trim on their armor. I hadn't bothered to learn their names. One of them stepped forward and opened his hand. Golden Dust flew into the cypress swamp. I followed it and my men followed me. Eventually we came to an old looking cobblestone building, covered in vines and crumbling slowly. At the front of it was a heavy stone slab, etched with unknown symbols. I reached out and touched it, an green energy swirled around me, then around the entire swamp, random stones, columns, trees, rocks, geysers and orbs bursting into existence. I felt the door/slab starting to slide open. Then the building vanished in a puff of golden dust. It started flowing away.

"FUUUUUUUUU-"

The Next Day, Mount Mitchell

I stood at the bottom of the mountain, Amber, Sam, Henri, Mark and Jule around me. This was it. This was where we figured out where the gold dust was from. This was where the quest ended. This was where everything started to return to normal. That's what I thought, anyway.

How wrong I was.

I started getting worried when I saw the heavy footprints following the gold dust's path. I got more worried when we came to an old building made of mossy stone. A stone slab had been lifted above the rest of the building, floating. I releases the last of the golden dust. This was where the dust was headed to. I drew my sword and headed in, the others right behind me. Our weapons emitted a faint yellow light as we headed down a long, would-be pitch black stone corridor. Then we came out onto a crumbling cobblestone walkway above a deep, deep pit, leading up to a golden coffin. And standing by it was the Gold Warrior, and two Silver Warriors with a gold trim on their armor. The Gold Warrior swung the coffin open. Something stepped out.

It had pure white skin, wrapped in bandages and covered in dry blood. Bits of rotten bone stuck from it's body at random points, and bits of burnt skin were partially peeled off. Half of it's face was missing and it's remaining eye was cloudy and had a scar along it. The teeth it had were black and jagged. It wasn't wearing anything except scorched bits of cloth that barely stayed together. The Gold Warrior and the Silver Warriors bowed to him, then they started glowing Green. They drew their swords and charged. I lunged for the Gold Warrior, but a wall appeared. My sword bounced off of it a second before the Gold Warrior attacked. He moved so fast and hit so hard that my sword arm went numb in seconds and a huge crack appeared on my sword. I swore and took my sword in my left hand, then he attacked again.

He drove me back, every so often making patches of oil appear on the floor, causing me to slip. I saw the Silver Warriors driving my friends back. We had no chance. A grenade appeared at my feet, the pin missing. I dived away but the explosion caught me and sent me flying off of the walkway. Then I saw Henri appear beside me, visible only by the light of my daggers, and grab my shoulder. We vanished and turned up in Jule's shadow, just as Jule was hit in the face by a firework that appeared out of nowhere. She fell to the floor, moaning. Mark grabbed her shoulders and dragged her away, leaving me and Sam trying to hold off the Gold Warrior as Henri and Amber took on his Silver friends. A boulder fell from the sky, crashing into the ground where me and Sam had been a second before.

I staggered back as the old Warrior kicked me in the chest. I heard my ribs break and collapsed to my knees. The Gold Warrior tossed Sam off to the side, and I saw Henri dive after him. Mark charged back into the fight when 5 fireworks shot towards him, exploding in his face. He fell to the ground and a Silver Warrior took him out with a downwards stab. THAT WS IT! THESE FUCKERS ARE GOING DOWN. The Silver Warrior didn't see me leap at him and stab my sword into his side, and, while he was surprised, I slit his throat. A shadow fell over me and Sam and Henri appeared in it. I tackled them and the boulder crashed through the bridge, taking Mark into the abyss. Henri went to try and save him, but a clip of Magnum bullets tore his arm off. I threw my sword at the Gold Warrior, but a wall appeared, blocking it. Green mist flowed over me, Henri and Sam. I felt a bit stronger and faster.

Me and Sam charged the other Silver Warrior, and together we brought him to his knees. A wall appeared, blocking my blow, but then Amber was there, and she finished off the Silver Warrior. That left the Gold Warrior. He thrust his palm at us and we all went flying into the corridor. We turned and ran, none of us having the time to rescue Jule or Henri. Then I heard a Chaingun revving up. I glanced back to see the Gold Warrior aiming a Chaingun at us, but then Henri appeared, his shoulder and chest covered in blood. He and 2 skeletons attacked the Gold Warrior, forcing him to swap the Chaingun for a sword. Henri sacrificed himself for us. We burst out of the temple and ran for our lives.

**Well, how was it? Reviews please!**


	13. Time For War

**A/N: I know it's short, but it's needed for the story.**

We ran for a long time. A long, long time. We were back at the roadside hotel before I stopped, sat down and thought. Tears came to my eyes as I thought about Mark, and Henri... Hell, even Jule's death was saddening. I wiped the tears away. I didn't want to embarass myself in front of my Girlfriend and Best Friend. I checked myself for injuries. Three of my ribs were cracked, and I had ugly black bruises all over my chest. I had a shallow cut down my right arm and some slight burns on my left. Sam had a dislocated wrist and cut on his leg. Amber was mostly ok, thank the gods, but had a sword wound on her right shoulder. We eventually found enough Ambrosia in waht was left of our packs to heal the worst of our injuries, leaving only scars and faint bruises. We had got a hell of a lot of luck, and still couldn't save Mark, or Henri or Jule. Amber saw the sadness on my face and wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back and pressed my lips against hers. But then SOMEONE (I'm looking at you, Sam) decided to interupt us.

"We need to get to camp." he said.

He was right, though. I don't know what that thing was, but I knew what is wasn't - Friendly. And I was sure it was pretty damn powerful, to be able to superpower three people while wounded enough to kill someone 5 times over. But there was one problem - how would we get to camp? We got our answer in the form of Hermes showing up in front of us. He was wearing a business suit and holding a winged staff - a cadecus. It had two snakes wound around it. I bowed.

"We sensed something big in the mountain. What is it?" he asked, sounding worried.

Ok, now I was bloody terrified. The Gods were worried.

"I- I don't know. It was some kind of... It looked like it should be dead, and it was in a golden coffin, that was flashing green." I stammered.

Hermes swore in Ancient Greek, and teleported us to camp. Jen was on watch.

"Where's Mark?" was her first question.

I took a deep breath before I murmured; "Gone."

"Gone where?" she asked, then realised.

"Oh gods." she muttered.

"I tried to save him, but-" I started.

"I'm not blaming you. Just... Gods. Not Mark. Why?" she asked the Gods.

"We'll see him again in Elyisium." I said.

"I know." she said; "Are Henri and the Ares girl-"

"Yes." I answered her unfinished question.

Chiron came over and we followed him to the Big House. Well, Jen went to tell the rest of the camp about the deaths, but me, Amber and Sam went to the Big House. He asked what happened, and we told him everything that happened during the quest. At the end, he cursed.

"It's time for war." he said.

**Dun dun dun! Harsh reviews please, or just any review. Please?**


	14. Fall Of Houston, Part 1

**An action-packed death-fest, with nothing but combat. Enjoy ;-)**

Mortals fled from the swarm of Grey Warriors storming the city, Gorgons circling above them and Minotaurs charging forwards. Strange. There's meant to be one, but the thing from the tomb - Creatos - is summoning hordes of them like it's nothing. It had started on a path of destruction towards California, and we'd managed to beat it to Houston, Texas. Mortal Soldiers swarmed forwards, firing their M8 Assault Rifles (Heard of the XM8? This is the non-experminental version) at the incoming forces, as prototype Tanks rolled forwards, firing off shells. The bullets passed straight through the Minotaurs, instead tearing up the Grey Warriors, but the tank's cannons caused explosions big enough to tear dents in the Minotaur ranks. I wanted to go and help, but they wouldn't let us 'kids' 'waste our lives'. And Chiron pointed out we'd be shot to death if we entered in a melee. The Gorgons swooped down on the US Army, slicing the soldiers in half as the non-celestial bronze rounds passed through them like they were ghosts. Humvees drove towards the charge, splattering Minotaurs as the chainguns unloaded lead into the Grey Warriors. AH-64 Apaches unleashed their armaments on the Gorgons. The bullets did no damage, but the explosions from their Hellfire and Hyrdra 70 missiles were deadly enough. In the skies above, the remaining 16 B-2 Spirits unleashed hundreds of bombs, and the explosions shook the ground, leaving only a few survivors. And one of them was Creatos. A horde of Gorgons apppeared, swarming up into the air, ready to tear apart the Spirits on their next run. Next, hundreds of heavily armed Centuars appeared, holding swords, spears, lances and axes. Made of half steel, half celestial bronze. They charged, as another horde of Gorgons appeared and darted towards the army.

They had no chance. They couldn't even touch their enemies. Then they turned to us. By us, I mean the entire camp, and the Huntresses of Artemis. Sun and Moon arrows flew towards the enemies, impaling their bodies and sending them crashing to the ground. But more kept on coming. As the Hunt kept the Gorgons back, the Apollo Cabin rained arrows on the Centaurs. Enough survived to crash into our phalanx. My spear was jammed in one of the horsemen, so I drew my sword and hacked away, brining three down before most had recovered from the impact. 5 more hit the ground in as many seconds by my blade alone. I was willing to bet the entire camp brought down 100 in that time. Cracklings bolts of orange energy slammed into a few, knocking them out. I saw a few Huntresses dart into combat, whirling around and hacking away at the Centaurs. Gorgons began diving at us. I tossed a few daggers into the sky, then buried my blade in one as it tried to grab me. I tossed a dagger at Creatos, hoping to get lucky. A collumn appeared. Damn. Then a swarm of boulders appeared in the sky above us. We all ran, and reformed 50 meters further down the street. Then 15 B-2 Stealth Bombers swooped towards us, missing parts, burning, and with dead pilots. We ran again, but a few of us were too slow, and were swallowed by the explosion. More were shot in the back by some newly appeared Centaur Archers.

We turned and got back to fighting. Within 10 minutes every one of my muscles felt like it was on fire, my sword was covered in monster, my body was covered in monster blood, normal blood leaked from random points around body, and I was purple and dark blue from bruises in tons of spots. My armor was reduced to scraps of celestial bronze on the ground, and I was sure I had had an eyebrow burnt off. But I kept fighting, swallowing a sip of Nectar from my vial. Well, more than a few sips. And I still looked (and felt) like shit. A centaur reared up on it's hind legs and kicked me backwards, my Nectar vial smashing as my sword landed next to me on the ground. I threw a few knives and brought down the Centaur and some of his friends. I scrambled to my feet and rolled away from a charging Minotaur. I swung my sword and carved it's side open, then I span and sidestepped to the left, lunging to the right and killing the bullman. A Dracanae - a large-breasted woman with twin snake tails instea of feet - lunged at me with a spear, which I batted aside. I swung my sword but it raised it's shield and blocked, then lunged at my foot. I dodged to the side and was about to stab it when it's twin sister attacked me. I dodged backwards, then threw a dagger at it. It died but then the first threw it's spear at me, getting me in the shoulder. Amber blurred past me and hacked it down. I thanked her and pulled the spear from my should- FUCK THAT HURT!

"FALL BACK!" I dimly heard Chiron shout above the din of the battle.

We were all to glad to oblige. I was towards the back of the retreat, and Sophie, who was in front of me, took an arrow in the back. Good riddance to that slut. Harsh, I know, but... Anyway, we eventually got pinned down outside the city hall. Jack, the son of Poseidon, sent out a wave from the large pool outside, washing the enmies back, before he made the water whirl around him. He dived into the enemy ranks, a miniature tornado of water, and the rest of us charged in. Joshua, a son of Hermes, ducked under a from a Dracanae and stabbed it, then tackled one that was about to stab me. The tall mage from the monster's attack on camp, Brandon, blasted one of the monsters in the face several time. Sam buried an axe in a Minotaur's head. Amber called a blast of sunlight down on a monster. I decided to call them Pales, after their skin. I threw a dagger into the pale's forehead before it recovered. Grace sliced through two Dracanae. Glen, a healer from Apollo, dragged a wounded camper from the fight. Thalia, a Huntress, called down a lightning storm of a group of Dracanae Archers. Artemis herself was, sadly, absent from the battle. Aeolus' only demi-god son, Bernie, and his Aphrodite girlfriend Sally, stood back to back, swinging shortswords. A silver warrior charged into the battle, but a bolt of lightning brought him down. Amber stabbed a Dracanae in the face. Sam ducked a sword swing and stabbed a Centaur. Jack was thrown backwards by a Pale.

Luckily, he landed in the half-empty pool, and shot out again, his water tornado faster than ever. I sliced a Pale's heel, and it stumbled. A sunbeam and lightning bolt hit it at the same time, and it fell to it's knees. I finished it off, then turned to a Dracane. It lost it's head. Another was about to kill me when Joshua stabbed it in the chest with his sword, which has dual bronze snakes engraved in it's blade. Jack swirled past me, hacking and slashing, water pushing back his foes. Glen took and arrow and fell backwards. Amber ran over to him as I took out the archer. Brandon threw a shield over himself as a burning pale attacked him. Thalia sprinted up to it and leapt, stabbing it in the chest. Damn that girl could jump high. Lightning ran through her dagger, and the Pale fell. The Gold Warrior charged Chiron, leaping at him and sending a wall of fireworks at him. NO! He exploded like a sandcastle in a tornado. NO! I charged the Gold Warrior, but slammed into a wall. A few skeletons charged me, but Sam cut them down. Joshua finished off the last one as a Black Warrior stalked into battle. I got to my feet and attaked him. His combat style was very familliar. 4 skeletons ran to help him, and he vanished into shadows, then attacked from behind me. I span around and blocked his blow. Thalia turned to face him from the distance, and the skies rumbled.

I knocked him out after he was hit by lightning, then charged back into battle, saving Jen from a Dracanae. I saw Lavender go down, and Rose fainted. Grace dragged her to safety as I avenged her twin, tears stinging my face, mingling with sweat and blood. Thalia's arrows whizzed over my shoulder, crackling with lightning. A Minotaur charged me, and got a dagger in the head. Amber was knocked to her feet by a centaur, but Joshua saved her and helped her to her feet. A group of Pales stomped forwards. They were hit by about 6 arrows and a blast of lightning. That was all we could muster. Bernie pushed them over with a burst of air, them collapsed, exhausted. A few campers took out the Pales, but they were divebombed by Gorgons. Floating a meter above the ground in the thick of the chaos, golden dust swirling around him, green energy shooting from his body, was Creatos. A lightning bolt flew towards him, but hit a newly appeared tent, turning it to dust. Meteors rained on the battlefield. Everyone who survived was driven back to the City Hall's doors. I looked around, seeing who had survived.

Me.  
>Amber.<br>Sam.  
>Jack.<br>Joshua.  
>Thalia.<br>Huntress.  
>Brandon.<br>Rose.  
>Grace.<br>Huntress.  
>Bernie.<p>

And 5 campers I couldn't name.

That was it.

14 Campers.

We came here with 67.

**A cliffhanger! MUHAHAHAHA! Harsh reviews please! And thank you for reading. **


	15. Fall of Houston, Part 2

**I know it's short, but, again, plot needs it.**

Creatos summoned Missiles. Big, anti-armor missiles. And launched them at us. We bolted for the pool at Jack's shouted order. I leapt in headfirst, and heard the others land near me. 14 splashes. Hang on, 14? Damn it! I saw a flaming corpse fall from the air, burnt beyond recognition. Jack was spinning around in a whirlwind of water, pulling everyone to dry (but scorched) land. Amber, Thalia and the Huntress I couldn't name tossed aside their bows, as the strings were soaked. I looked at theCity Hall as I picked up my sword. It was reduced to flaming rubble. I turned to face the army charging over a brand new bridge, and tried to lift my sword above waist height. I just managed, and prepared to fight the skeletons raising from the ground. An arrow hit me in the arm then another scathed my cheek. I fell backwards, and landed on a handgun. I grabbed it and aimed at a Silver Warrior. I fired, the recoil spraining my already overworked wrist. I swore, but smiled as I saw the Silver Warrior go down. The smile vanished as his green glowing buddy stepped up to me, holding a chaingun one handed. A beam of sunlight hit him, and he stumbled. I grabbed the gun left handed and finished him off.

A green mist flowed from his corpse and was absorbed by my body. I felt stronger and able to stand up and fight. Instead I laid facing the chaingun and sprayed it's belt of ammo at the enemy. It must have been Celestial Bronze, because I saw minoutaurs and dracanae dropping alongside Grey Warrior. That was the good part. The bad part? I made myself a huge target. As the belt ran dry, a swarm of arrows and javeins shot towards me. A shimmering blue shield appeared in front of me, and the attacks bounced off. I turned and ran, giving Brandon a thumbs-up as he dropped the shield. The attacks scattered between us again, making dodging a lot easier, and we fell back into the rubble of the City Hall. I tossed a few daggers, bringing down a pair of Gorgons, before I slumped behind a piece of non-burning rubble. Sunbeams and lightning bolts rained on the enemy. Blasts of blue force slammed into their ranks. Every so often, I sold daggers for nothing - with delivery to a random vital organ free of charge.

But it wasn't enough. A camper I didn't know fell to a poisonous arrow. A javelin hit Bernie in the chest, and he went limp. Jack's water tornado faded and he took an arrow to the knee. A minoutaur threw Sam into a piece of rubble, and I heard bones crack. A Gorgon swooped at me and clawed me in the chest, making me collapse, before beig driven off. I crawled away from the battle, my hands going pale as I dragged myself along the scorched ground. Amber pulled me behind a piece of rubble and gave me a nearly empty vial of Nectar. I wanted to kiss her, but now wasn't a good time. I gulped down the Nectar, but it was too little too late, and I felt myself fade into unconscious-ness.

I don't know how much later it was, but I woke up in a bed. I tried to look around but blacked out. The next time I woke up I recognised the place as the infirmary. I reached for a tiny shot glass of Nectar on my bedstand and sipped at it. By the time I finished it, I was able to take a proper look around. EVERY camper who had been at the battle was in a bed, sleeping. A Hephaestus guy who had been too ill to fight was walking around, grumbling as he checked to see if anyone was awake. Eventually he reached my bed, and a smile broke out onto his face. He muttered something like 'finally some one is awake', and asked me who I was. I told him, and asked about the others. Bernie had died on the way bak from camp, and 2 of the people I didn't know were dead. The huntress who wasn't Thalia was in a state between life and death, and Sam was already walking around again. Then I wondered what had happened. I asked him, and he smiled again.

"The Gods came down. They couldn't kill Creatos, but they forced him and his army to retreat." he said.

I cursed the Gods for not coming sooner and the sky rumbled, lightning dancing across it.

"Sorry!" I tried to shout it, but my voice came out as a croak.

After another day I was ready to go. There was about 10 people in the camp who hadn't been in Houston. 2 or 3 of them had been wounded or ill, and the rest left as an emergency defense force. I decided to go around and meet them...

**So, these 10-ish people in the camp? Who should they be? What should they look like? How should they act? Submit your ideas, with a review! If the review is good, and the character is good, they get included!**


	16. Meeting Everyone

**Not really cancelled.**

So, I met the other surviving Demi-Gods.

The survivors of the Battle of Houston I hadn't been able to name were:

Pela, a daughter of Aphrodite. She was one of the less 'girly' ones, and was a good fighter with dual daggers. She had long dark hair, which she kept braided neatly behind her, and chocolate brown eyes. Not only was she a great fighter, but she could charm and trick male enemies - a skill Sophie used, but Pela's beauty was natural, not magical. Well, as natural as Demi-Gods get.

Rick, a son of Ares. He was smart for a son of Ares, and fought with a sword and shield. He was fairly good at creating weapons and armor, and was a master of Greek Fire. He had brown hair and eyes, with an ugly scar on his cheek. I remembered seeing him fight once - catching spears and snapping them, shield-bashing people, using his foes for shields... I didn't want to piss him off.

Tim, a son of Zeus. I'm guessing he had summoned some of the lightning bolts I thought were that Huntresses' - Thalia, I think her name was? Anyway, he was fast and a good climber, and was working with a few Hephaestus kids on a bomb that creates a thunderclap powerful enough to deafen enemies for a few minutes. It also created a burst of light. Kinda like a Flashbang.

The Huntress I hadn't known the name of was called Kim. She had messy blonde hair and a bandanna was always present on her head. She seemed like a nice, fun loving girl. However, she tried to stay away from me and other boys. Seriously, why did Huntresses always avoid boys? I understand they're sworn not to romance, but that doesn't mean they need to HATE boys.

I also got to know some of the survivors I could name better:

Joshua, son of Hermes, was more into jokes than practical jokes. He had the features of all Hermes children - the grin, the high eyebrows, the thin face and the long nose. He had dark hair and brown eyes, and fought with a sword given to him by Hermes. It had decorative snakes wrapped along the blade's inside, and I swear I caught them turning 'alive' and biting an enemy during the Battle of Houston.

Brandon, the son of Hecate, was in a bad mood over his half-sister (Sophie's) death, but I learnt that he was tall and dark haired, with brown eyes, just by looking at him. Becasue I'm epic like that. Anyway, I learnt that he was devoted to learning helpful magic, rather than offensive, but new a few basic attack spells. He had a way with Horses and Pegasi, anything Horse-like, really.

Jack, the son of Poseidon, had sandy blonde hair and sea green eyes. He loved the water, mostly at beaches, but hated seafood. He wasn't as skilled with horses or earthquakes as other famous sons of Poseidon were, but he had a far greater control with the sea and could even manipulate seaweed. He was experimenting with a trick that drains the water from enemies bodies, which sounded nasty.

Finally, I met the people who had stayed behind at camp:

Cole, a son of Hermes. He was about a year younger than me and had sandy blonde hair with bright blue eyes. His ears were pointed and he had the high eyebrows, pointy nose and ever-present grin on all Hermes children. I remembered hearing about him replacing Chiron's (RIP) music with heavy metal once, and I got the feeling he was behind most of the pranks these days. I had to check my wallet five times during my three minute conversation with him. He talked fast, and a lot, so I barely got a word in.

There was another kid called 'B'. He was a son of Hypons and had a flash of warm milk in his pocket, or, more often, on his bedside table. I tried to talk with him, but I could tell he was thinking about going back to bed and sleeping. He never seemed to open his eyes fully, but the closer he got to doing so, the more tired I felt. He had long, thin, messy hair, like he'd just woken up. To be fair, he's ALWAYS just woken up when he's awake, and he doesn't stay that way for long.

There was a few more kids who were busy training, and the one other kid, who looked a bit like a Demeter child - brown hair, brown eyes, the way plants seemed more alive around him - but he also had the general build of a Hermes child, with the pointy nose and thin frame. He didn't have the smile or high eyebrows though. I think he had a problem with his vocal cords, because he didn't answer my questions about him. He just ran off towards the fields after a while.


	17. in ur base killin ur d00dz

**This one ended up being long. 2,150 words.**

I crept across the baking sands, watching Creatos and his humongous army. It ws about ten times bigger than it had been in Houston, and it was composed of a large variety of monsters. I saw Dracanae in shining chainmail armor, holding deadly sharp curved scimitars. I saw Minotaurs with heavy steel armor and gigantic war axes. I saw Gorgons, circling above the army on their short, stubby bat wings. I saw Grey Warriors in their plain grey armor, some of them with helmets like Ottoman Jannisaries. I saw Pales, their beaten-up looking skin hard to see against the sand they stomped over. They were heading through a patch of sailing stones (rocks that naturally move randomly around) as the sun was going down. Creatos waved his hand and a few barracks sprung up. In a minute, there was enough houses for the entire army, along with storehouses, watchtowers, an eletric fence and fire-breathing Golden Dragons patrolling the area. That made things a bit more complicated, but I quickly came up with a plan. You see, me and a few others were here to sabotage Creatos' army, and try to take most of it out. On the mission was Grace, Me, Pela, Cole, The Silent Kid (TSK), Rick, and Brandon. Thankfully, Brandon knew a few illusions, and the plan relies on them.

I ran back to the rest of the group, kicking up sand as I sprinted down a sand dune. They were waiting at the bottom, a shimmering blue mist keeping them cool. We were taking turns on spying, and cooling down in the mist while not spying. Brandon looked drained from sustaining the mist for so long, so I handed him a square of ambrosia. He inhaled it very fast for someone who had looked ready to faint. I walked over to Grace, and told her my plan to get into the camp. We were going to have Brandon disguise us a Sailing Stones and head towards the fence. If Brandon's illusion was good enough, we could cut seperate holes in the fence in dark spots and sneak into the camp, where we would plant our explosives on the barracks and supply houses. If we got caught, we'd leg it and throw our explosives over our shoulders on the way out. Not the best plan ever in terms of escape, but the entry method was genius, even if I do say so myself. I saw TSK nodding and Rick smiling at the chuck explosives over your shoulder part.

"Not bad." said Grace; "Brandon, can you handle the illusions?"

"Yeah." he said simply.

"Why not just charge in?" suggested Cole, imitating Ares' voice.

"Because we would die." snapped Grace.

"He's just kidding." laughed Pela.

"He's gonna pay for mocking me." grumbled Rick, drawing his sword.

"You're going to hit yourself in the face for having no sense of humour, aren't you Rick?" asked Pela.

I felt like punching myself in the face until I broke my nose, but managed to shrug it off. Charmspeak. Cole, Brandon, Pela and I laughed as Rick dropped his sword and punched himself in the face. Rick swore as the charmspeak wore off and reached for his sword.

"Nuh-uh." said Pela, wagging her finger.

Rick left his sword in the sand, glaring daggers at Pela. I wished I could charmspeak.

"Could we stop being idiots and get to work?" grumbled Rick.

Pela and everyone who had laughed at her charmspeaking glared at Rick.

"Surprisingly, he has a point." said Grace.

Rick glared at Grace. And smiled at the same time. It looked weird. Anyway, we eventually got into position and Brandon casted his spell. I looked down and saw that I looked like a rock. I crept across the sands towards the enemy base. I got up to the electric fence and moved towards a spot the towers didn't cover. I drew a knife and realized I would get zapped. I quickly glanced around and saw the power generator. I prayed to my mom and threw the dagger. It sailed over the fence and came down, hitting the generator. I heard the crackle of the electric fence die, and slashed it open with a new dagger. I slipped through the newly made gap and darted into the shadow of a storage house. It had plain white walls and 2 small windows on each side. The word STORAGE was painted in large black letters on the right hand wall. I looked in through the window. 2 Grey Warrior guards, both glowing Green. Protecting a hades of a lot of missilse. Including one Nuclear Missile. Oh shit. I drew my sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, then burst through the main doors. Before they reacted, I cut one down and lunged for the other. A collumn of stone blocked my blow, then I saw a firework tied to a grenade shoot at me. I sliced it in half and kicked the Grey Warrior to the floor, and lunged down as he opened his mouth to shout for help.

My blade hit a wooden board, and slammed it into him. He grunted and threw it off of him before kicking my legs out from beneath me. Iron bars pinned me to the ground as he got up. He raised his sword to attack. But I swung my legs, catching the blade and throwing backwards out of the double doors. He created another one but dropped the bars in surprise. I leapt up and pucnhed him in the face. He stumbled back and I stabbed him with my sword, blood exploding out of his body. I pulled my blade free and wiped the crimson liquid off. I planted an explosive device on the nuke. It (the nuke) was big, curved and black, laid on it's side on some kind of trolley. There was no radiation symbols or THIS WAY UP signs, no markings at all. I was glad that my explosive wouldn't set it off, because it needs some kind of special trigger and reaction. The missiles, however, would explode and make one hades of a mess. I smiled and crept out, and saw Pela crouching outside, daggers in her hand, and a cut on her cheek. Her dark hair was hanging down behind her messily, and she had a faint smile on her face.

"You alright?" I whispered.

"Yeah, I'm good." she whispered back.

"Good. This building's covered." I replied.

"What in?" she joked.

I smiled.

"Nice one." I said.

"Thanks." she whispered.

"Got to go." I said; "Places to blow up, people to kill."

I could tell she was struggling to contain her laughter as she winked at me and crept away. I headed for a barracks. It had the same white walls and wall writing as the storehouse, but the window had white blinds and 2 glowing Gray Warriors were outside. I put my sword away, wincing as it made a sound going into it's scabbard. Then I slipped two bronze daggers from my pocket, and decided to stop and look at them properly. They were long and thin, and had a kind of triangular shape, rather than a typical blade. I readied them and threw. They sailed towards the glowing Gray Warriors and hit them - one in the head, the other in the neck. They crumpled to the floor without a sound, and green mist filled the air near them. I stepped into it and felt myself grow stronger as it flowed into me. I guessed I was absorbing some of the unused power in their bodies? Anyway, I pushed open the plain white double doors, and slipped inside. Glowing people were in metal bunkbeds lining the walls, with their armor in a special slot in the wall. I counted - 18 Grey Warriors, 2 Silver. I did NOT want to wake them up, so I planted my second explosive in the middle of the room's floor, and quickly but silently darted back outside. Right into a patrolling Dracane. I tackled her and drew a knife. She hissed and threw me off, and grabbed her spear. It was short, for a spear, and had a half steel, half celestial bronze tip. She lunged and I rolled to the side and countered, stabbing her in the shoulder, but my knife's blade skimmed along her steel shoulder pad. She shoved me back with the shaft of her spear, and prepared to stab me, when a bronze blade burst through her chest, and she turned into golden dust, which started to flow towards the center of the complex.

"Crap." said Rick.

"That's gonna alert Creatos." I whispered.

He nodded.

"Shit." I swore.

I heard a heavy door burst open, and Gorgons shot into the air. The Gold Dragons swooped into the camp. Oh gods, this wasn't good.

"RUN!" I heard Brandon shout, as a trail of blue energy shot into the air, stunning a Gorgon.

Rick and I followed his advice and darted for the fence, but our path was blocked by a Golden Dragon. It shot flames at us and we rolled behind a building. I looked at the words on the wall. DRACANAE BARRACKS. I heard hisses and thumps inside.

"I'll distract it, hit it's side!" I snapped at Rick.

He nodded and sprinted to the corner of the building as I stepped out from cover and faced the Dragon. It was big, its head alone the size of me. It had gleaming wings and it's silver teeth were the size of my head, and looked very sharp. It shot a burst of fire at me and I rolled to the side and threw my last dagger at it. It bounced off its golden scales and landed next to it. It's eyes were silver, like the lines between it's scales, its teeth, and its claws. It fired another stream of fire just as the Dracanae reached me. I sprinted behind a storehouse as the white hot flames melted through the Dracane's chainmail armor, leaving only charred corpses. I span out from the building and drew my sword. The Dragon got ready to charge me when Rick shot into the open and slammed his sword into it's side, in a gap in the scales. It roaored and a burst of fire blasted Mark away, but he raised his shield, and plugged the hole with it. Then he stabbed and made another gap, leaving the sword in there. He drew his dagger and put it in the other hole, pulling his shield away. It span to face him and I took the chance to stab it in the neck. I left my sword there and raced towards my dagger. It swung it's spiked tail and tossed me backwards. I hit the sandy ground 5 meters awayk bleeding through a large hole in my side. I feeted to stumble my and wounded my cover wrist with then building step and...

"Eat this." sooth's Pela-ing voice spoked.

Chomped I food the. I instantly felt a bit better and my head cleared. I was able to think properly again. And notice that Pela was holding me in hers arms behind a storehouse. I blushed and she let me go.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." I said, mimicking our earlier conversation.

"Good. This building's covered." she whispered.

I glanced at it.

"What in? Flames?" I joked.

She laughed.

"Now get out their and distract it." she Charmspoke.

"Yes, mi'lady." I said, darting out into the open.

I saw Mark hiding and threw a small rock from the ground at the Golden Dragon. It bounced off it's hide, but got it's attention. I ran at it, weaving to the side of the flames and tossing another rock. It went into its mouth and I heard it make a choking sound. It tried to breathe fire but failed and the scales on it's neck were seared away by the heat of the trapped fire. Pela leapt from the shadows and buried he daggers in its now vulnerable throat. Its throat exploded, tossing Pela back as it crumpled, 'dead'. I swore and ran over there, checking on Pela. I got over to her, and she grabbed and hugged me. I hugged her back for a few seconds then pulled away. No, not because I remembered I've got a girlfriend. It was a friendly hug! I dug around in my pocket and gave her a vial of Nectar. She thanked me and drunk it. It healed her, but her clothes stayed scorched, and her daggers remained crumpled and destroyed. Rick and I collected our thankfully undestroyed swords, but our daggers were destroyed. Then Creatos floated down the street towards us, vines, rocks, bushes and other random things appearing around him, his hands glowing with green energy. Rick and I stepped in front of Pela, who backed away nervously.

**Cliffhanger! Will the heroes escape? Where are the others? What's going on with Pela and Tom? Will I do these questions for every chapter? **

**Harsh reviews please. Or non harsh ones. There's still room for your characters!**


	18. Narrow Escape

**Another long one. 2,419 words long in fact.**

"You're going to let us go." Pela said.

I felt sure she was right. I mean, why not let us go?

"You think you can charmspeak me?" laughed Creatos.

"Um, yeah..." muttered Pela.

Creatos laughed so loud the ground shook and I grabbed a nearby doorto steady myself.

"Not going to work." he said.

Pela backed up further as Creatos advanced, huge flaming warhammers appearing in his hands. He laughed and swung them - one at me, the other at Rick. We rolled in different directions and attacked. I lunged high and he went low, but Creatos tuck jumped, avoiding our swords, and slammed his hammers into the ground. A shockwave blew me back off of my feet and onto the sand. I pushed myself to my feet and glared at Creatos. His eyes were cloudy and dark, like a corpse, and with his body covered in cuts, burns, and rotten bandages, he looked like he was dead. But he emenated an aura of life and creation. I rolled away from a blow and lunged at his foot, Rick leaping at his side. A winding stone cage appeared, blocking our blows, then vanished as we were slammed away from him. I moaned and pulled myself to my feet as Creatos advanced on Pela. I rushed him, leaping and taking a swing for his arm, but I wasn't fast enough and he stepped backwards, causing me to miss him and tumble through the sand. Pela grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I dodged under a blow from Creatos and he span 360 degrees. I saw Rick go flying backwards as I was slammed aside. Blue mist appeared, stopping me from crashing into a wall, and Brandon charged Creatos, sending a stream of blue energy at him, but Creatos blocked with a newly appeared shield.

"Magic. Very fancy." he laughed as he grabbed an explosive tipped javelin from thin air.

Brandon summoned blue mist which caught the javelin. He grabbed it's smooth metal shaft and threw it back, but hit a pillar of stone, blowing it to pieces. Creatos pointed his hand and a huge, golden tank appeared. He hopped into it and the cannon turned into a gattling cannon, shooting out explosive cannonballs. Brandon caught them in a blue mist, but I saw sweat race down his face. That's when a vine shot form the ground and filled up a barrel of the cannon. A split-second later the tank exploded, blowing someone back. I recognized him as TSK. Creatos summoned a chaingun and fired at him, full auto, but his bullets pinged off an invisible shield. He threw a grenade, which also bounced off, but exploded near the invisible wall. I saw Grace's hood get blow down and remembered her cloak turns her invisible. Creatos switched to a huge cannon and aimed it down the street at the group of us. Grace shouted something along the lines of 'Scatter!' and everyone bolted in different directions. Cole rushed Creatos from behind, holding a curved scimitar. He swung but hit a huge Roman-esque shield on his back and his blade slid down it's length and into the sand. Creatos span round and grabbed his throat.

"You look like the fool who I defeated in Houston." he said, before tossing Cole aside.

"Everyone rush!" I heard Grace shout.

Everyone charged in and attacked Creatos at once, but he encased himself in a stone cage, which then explode. Creatos shot into hte air, dropping firebombs. Everyone leapt away, managing to get out of the firbomb's range in time. Pela threw a spear she had lotoed, probably from a Dracanae, but Creatos batted it aside and threw a firebomb back at her. She sprinted out of the way and the spot where she had been standing exploded into crackling red flames. Cole slid under Creatos, throwing his sword upwards, but he hit a randomly appearing pigeon. Poor bird. Only alive for a split second. Grace shot arrows up at Creatos, but he encased himself in an Egyptian Sarcophagus, which the arrows stuck into. Grace aimed another arrow but didn't fire. The Sarcophagus dissolved and Grace let the arrow go. It hit Creatos in the leg, but he barely noticed it as he threw a firebomb back at Grace. She dived into a barracks then slipped out and fired another arrow, which hit a hawk. Damn, we were gonna be in trouble with the ASPCA. If we survived, which we probably wouldn't. Suddenly, the buildings everyone was hiding near exploded, sending flaming white rubble into the air, and it rained down on us. I was hit on the shoulder and winced, falling to my knees. Then a bolt of lightning struck the ground near Creatos. A tall figure appeared, clad in golden armor with lightning racing around it. He held a celestial bronze lightning bolt in his hand and emenated power. Zeus.

Zeus.

"Ah, you again." growled Creatos.

Zeus didn't waste time with words, jsut leapt straight into combat with a lightning bolt, which hit an eagle and blew it to pieces. Creatos summoned a chaingun and sprayed it at Zeus, who held out his hand and blew it all aside with powerful winds. Another lightning bolt rushed towards Creatos, who blocked it by summoning a pea. Yes, a small, circular, light green pea. It exploded into green mist, which filled about a square centimeter of air. Creatos laughed and taunted Zeus, who turned and lightning bolt into a crackling sword, and shot forwards. Creatos drew a golden longsword embedded with all kinds of different gems and blocked. I saw a small, jagged red crystal - a, um, Garnet - glow deep red, and blood exploded around the two fighters. Their blades crossed again and a smooth blue Sapphire shone bright blue, before buckets of water shot into the air around the godly battle. The next clash of weapons caused a well-cut light green Emerald to emit a stunning green light. Grass and saplings exploded into existence around the crossed swords. As the battle went on, different gems burst into bright lights, hurling all kinds of things, including Drachama, which everyone snatched up, around the battlefield. Although it wasn't really a battlefield. Because they were flying. More of a battlesky. Whatever the zone of combat was, the battle dragged on for a long time before Creatos ordered his minions to attack us 'mongrels'. That's Evil for Demi-God.

A minotaur rushed me, and an arrow whizzed past it narrowly before another hit it. I thakned Grace before spinning and cutting down a tired looking man in underwear, holding a knife. I grabbed it and threw it to Pela, who caught it and stabbed a Dracanae in the neck. Cole hacked down a Grey Warrior and Grace switched from her bow to a sword. TSK used vines to trip a Minotaur, then stabbed it with his spear. I turned to face a Dracanae and slammed my blade into its shields, sending it flying off. It lunged for me but I sidestepped and stabbed it in the chest, through a gap in the chainmail. Rick shield bashed a Grey Warrior back, then hacked at his foot. A Drachma fell on my head and another caught an arrow aimed for me. Gods that was lucky. I grabbed a dagger from a dead enemy and tossed it across the battlezone and into a Dracaenae. The Gold Warrior charged me and lunged at my chest. I blocked and countered, but he parried my blow and swiped low. I kicked his blade down into the sand and threw a punch at him, but hit a wall of wind. He summoned a chainsaw and swung at me. I matrix dodged it and kneed him where it hurt. He doubled over and I kicked him to the ground. Before I could finish him, a coffin appeared, encasing him. It vanished as my sword bounced off and he blew me back with a blast of wind, then he climbed to his feet. He charged at me and I blocked, then shot a oneliner at him for no reason.

"Let's not rush things." I laughed.

He summoned a pistol in his free hand and hit me in the chest with it, but the second before he fired I twisted, adn the shot went into a Grey Warrior. I slammed my shoulder into him and he stumbled back, then barely blocked a lunge to his throat. I was gaining the upper hand. He used winds to push me back, then attacked again, cutting down my left arm. I swore and lunged for his shoulder. My blade went hilt-deep into him and green mist flowed into me as I pulled it out of him. He attacked again, but slightly slower, and my block was faster. I kicked him in his knee so hard it buckled inwards. He grunted and I stabbed him in the chest, but my blade bounced off his armor, leaving an ugly dent. He stumbled backwards and threw a firework at me, but I dodged. He followed up with an explosive javelin. I caught it in my left hand, swung it behind my back, and returned it to him with my right hand. He slammed it aside with a gust of wind and it explode, tearing off a Pale's legs. He backed away, raising a newly appeared shield in one hand, a machine pistol in the other. Before he shot me dead, an Owl appeared and clawed his face. Then Grace rushed past me and kicked him to the ground. A minature tornado threw her back, and I caught her.

"Thanks." I said.

" 'Twas nothing." she replied.

" 'Twas?" I asked.

"Shut. Up." she growled.

"Yes ma'am." I said.

"Back to work." she ordered.

We charged the Gold Warrior, swords at the ready, and he barely held us back with winds.

"This isn't over." he said before rushing away, aided by a small tornado.

"Damn it!" me and Grace shouted at the same time.

A squad of Dracaenae attacked us and we went back to back, hacking and slashing at them as they advanced. Her owl swooped in, tearing out eyes, and I summoned one to divert their arrows away from us. We killed all the close range fighters before turning our attention to the archers. We rushed in opposite direction, cutting down the bow-wielding Dracaenae. The Bows were actually quite good, with smoke-colored wood and small carvings of runic symbols. A long, sharp arrow with a barbed tip narrowly missed me before I stabbed it's owner, who burst into Gold Dust. I glanced up at the godly fight. Random items were exploded into the air around the two combatants, and Gold Dust swirled around Creatos. I watched water splash over the fighters, and Zeus fell from the sky. Oh shit. Suddenly, two horns broke through my chest as a Minotaur rushed me. Fuck fuck shit shit balls crap shit fuck damn gods! I fell off of it and landed facing the sky, where Creatos was laughing madly. Blue energy shot towards him, then a magic rope caught Brandon and pulled him up to Creatos' level. Brandon took a chainsaw in the chest, and fell, chainsaw still going, to the ground. The blood spray reached me as I tried to get back- FUCK! As I... I... Fell... Felt liquid... liquid inn... in mine... my mouth. I felt a bit better, and got to my feet, with Pela's help. Damn, I needed to stop being seconds from death and saved by Pela. Too repetetive. This time though, I wasn't ready to charge back into combat.

"You alright?" she asked.

"No." I groaned.

"You gonna live?" she said.

"Probably." I croaked.

She gave me another drop of Nectar - her last.

"Thanks." I breathed.

I steadied myself before speaking.

"Think we should retreat?" I asked.

"Duh." she replied; "RETREAT! RETREAT!"

I heard everyone else shouting replies as they turned and ran. I struggled to keep up, tripping on dead bodies and broken weapons. Pela grabbed my hand and pulled me along. Then I had an idea.

"Explosives." I said.

A look of confusion passed over her face, followed by an evil smile. She let go of my hand and we both turned and threw our remaining explosives. Our pursuers explode as we detonated them, and I saw 4 distant buidlings explode.

"Get moving!" shouted Grace.

We obeyed and ran for a part of the fence that had been ruthlessly hacked open. Rick rushed forwards and stabbed a dive-bombing Gorgon, then turned and ran with us. We got out of the camp and everyone hit their detonators. A few more buildings exploded. Grace threw her water bottle on the ground and stabbed it, causing a rainbow-like mist to rise. I guess that was the effect of a godly battle, full scale ground conflict and exploding camp on nearly boiling water.

"Cover me!" she shouted.

Cole threw sand at her.

"STOP BEING AN IDIOT!" she roared.

Cole turned and joined everyone else in guarding the exit. Except me, because I was too wounded.

"Mr. D, Camp Half-Blood." Grace shouted.

Mr. D, our Camp Director, appeared in the rainbow-like mist.

"What is it now?" he sighed wearily.

"We need extraction!" shouted Grace.

"Calm down, will you?" Mr. D sighed.

"We. Need. A. Way. Out. Of. Here." Grace grumbled.

"Can't Zeus deal with it?" Mr. D yawned.

"He's wounded." Grace replied.

"Fine." Mr. D said.

The image vanished and Mr. D appeared near us a few seconds later, carrying Zeus over his shoulder. A second later we were back at Camp Half-Blood. Mr. D vanished with Zeus. All us Half-Bloods walked over to the Camp Infirmary. We were all wounded. I had my partially healed chest wounds, and lots of bruises. Grace had a shallow cut on her forehead and a brusied chest. Pela had various small cuts. Cole had a broken arm. TSK had a cut on his shoudler. Rick had some burns and cuts. Brandon... Oh god, he died. Shit shit fuck shit. Good sentence structure, I know. I reached the Infirmary last, due to my limp. I looked down and saw bruises all over my lower leg. That would explain the limp. When I got there, Amber was helping out. After several days following Creatos' army, and the huge battle, I couldn't have been happier to see her. She rushed over to me and kissed me, and I returned the kiss until we broke apart.

**What did you think? I tried including a book character, and I think I did an ok job keeping him IC. Anyway. **


	19. Too Well Aimed

**Constellapeia **

**Um... You didn't see anything. At all. Heh... Here, have an edited chapter. Lol.**

Within a day everyone was cured of the wounds they had recieved on the mission, and things were back to normal. Except for there being so few campers. That wasn't normal. But we were still going about our daily business, training, having mock battles, eating, gathering around the campfire. Hell, we were even arranging a game of Capture The Flag. However, our timetables were stricter and more combat orientated under our new Camp Leader, a man named Travis Stoll. I hear he used to be really funny and laid back until his twin brother was killed fighting the Minotaur, at which point he became strict and angry all the time. Anyway, we were planning a game of Capture The Flag. It was Me, Grace, Rose, Rick, Amber, an Apollo kid and Jack against Sam, Joshua, Cole, TSK, Pela, An Aphrodite Kid, and Tim. Both teams also had a few people I couldn't remember, including 4 to 7 of the kids who weren't at Houston and 2 new, unclaimed kids. They were both built like Ares kids, so that's probably what cabin they're from. I was broken out of my thought chian by the blunt side of a sword hitting me in the face.

"Focus!" Grace shouted at me.

I grumbled something and blocked her next blow, then went for her shoulder. She twisted out of the way, revealing Rose teaching little Steph how to fight. I seriously had no idea how - block - she ended up at camp so young. I ducked under a swipe by Grace and grabbed her wrist, twisting it and causing her to drop her sword. She kicked me where it hurts.

"OUCH! YOU BITCH!" I roared.

"Be polite to your elders and watch your language." Grace scolded me.

Elders? She was a few months older than me! And language? Really? It's not like there's little kids- oh, right. Steph.

"Well don't kick me there." I complained, getting back into a fighting stance.

"Don't leave it unarmored." she replied, swinging at my right arm.

"This is a no-armor fight!" I said, dodging backwards.

"You agreed to it." she shot back, lunging at my head.

I batted the blow aside and put my blade to her throat. Ha. I win.

"I win." I said simply.

She elbowed me in the chest, then swung up into the bottom of my jaw. My head snapped backwards and she shoulder-rammed me backwards, casuing me to fall to my feet. I reached for my sword and snatched it up just in time to block a downwards blow. Grace kicked it's blade backwards and she stabbed me in the chest. Ouchies. I winced as the sword went in. Thankfully, the cut was only a few milimeters deep, but it was another to make me surrender. I pulled the sword out and threw it aside, and Grace helped me to my feet. I reached into my pocket and took out a smiley face plaster. Not childish at all, I thought as I put it over my cut. And then me and Grace helped teach Steph how to use a dagger, and within 20 minutes she knew a few basic lunges and slashes. But then it was time for Capture The Flag, and Steph went back to the cabin to read a book. She was ADHD, but not dyslexic, which I wish I was. It was really annoying being half wisdom godess and not being able to read without the words floating off of the page and dancing around you. Not literally. That would be incredibly weird, and would probably mean that the book is cursed in some way, shape or form.

Anyway, I pull on some armor, making sure to put a groin plate on to avoid someone kicking me in the balls. I had my sword already, but grabbed a belt of daggers and strapped that on. I took a shield took, because it might prove useful. Finally, I put on a blue plumed helmet and walked over to the flag, which was navy blue with a silver owl shimmering in the center. Athena Cabin's flag. Because we owned. It had a long silver shaft and was fairly tall. The enemy flag was green with a silver cadecus in the middle. Hermes Cabin's flag. Hey, they had en masse tactics. It's not fair. Well, they used to, anyway. Damned war. It's taken so many lives, and we have had one victory. In a battle which was pretty much a third US Armed Forces, Camp Half-Blood, and the Olympians. And I remembered overhearing something at one point - I didn't know at the time, but I realized now what it was - "We shall free the others." And the thought of more of them godly killing machines scared me more than anything else in the world. Even more than when I walked in on an Ares girl in the wrong shower. And that was something that I wanted to forget SO badly. Back to reality. We were done gearing up and formulating a plan.

Rick, Me, Amber and the Apollo kid, a tall guy with a bow, would sneak up to the flag, while Rose, Jack, and 2 kids I knew nothing about led a frontal assault. Then I pointed out defence. Amber and the other Apollo kid were told to guard the flag, which we were putting on poop pile, sorry, Zeus' Fist. With the plan 'perfected', we got to work. Me, Grace and Rick snuck through the forest, skirting around what sounded like a battle. A few times we were nearly seen, but we had just enough luck and skill to keep us hidden until we reached the area where they'd put the flag. It was by a small stream at the bottom of the hill. The flag was in a clump of trees at the top of the hill, and two guards were at the bottom. The unclaimed kids. Grace ordered me and Rick to attack while she crept invisibly up the hill. Sounded like a good plan to me, so I went with it. I charged from the bushes and attacked, swinging at the nearest kid, who blocked. He glared at me and I backed away, terror filling me. I struggled to throw... whatever it was... off, and leapt into combat again. The other kid pointed at me and horrible things flashed through my eyes. I don't want to describe them, but Rick slammed his shield into the kid, sending him flying back and slamming into the base of the hill. Grace charged down, firing at me. What the- ouch! An arrow his me in the knee. Damn it!

I used to be able to beat archers at 15 meters, but then I took an arrow to the knee.

And that is why I took another in the groin plate as I charged Grace. I pulled it out, and saw a dent in my groin plate. Thankfully, the arrow hadn't gone through. If it did, I probably would have killed Grace. Torn her apart with my bare hands. But that's not the point. I managed to dodge the next arrow, and threw a dagger. It sailed through the air, hitting Grace's bow and sending it crashing into the bushes. I took in the scenery in for a split-second. Autumn trees, bristling with gold and red leaves. Bushes looking much the same, and the grass tinted orange by the warm glow of the sun. I forced myself to concentrate and kicked Grace in the chest, then slapped her in the face, triyng not to hurt her too badly. Sure, she was strict and vengeful, but she was my half-sister. I noticed a pink-ish glow leave her eyes, and rushed up the hill, leaving her and Brandon to deal with the scary kids. I reached the top and saw Pela standing there. Somehow, she made battle armor look good, and her eyes were filled with excitement. Huh, an Aphrodite kid who enjoys battle. I rushed her and batted asdie her dagger swings. He daggers were longer and thicker than mine, with a curve to them. I swung the hilt of my sword fot her face but she leant back under the attack.

"Tom, how about you go punch Rick?" she asked, sounding persuasive.

"No." I managed to reply.

She switched to Charmspeaking.

"How about you go punch Rick, Tom?" she asked again.

I struggled as hard as I could, trying to ignore the charmspeak. But I couldn't do it, and ending up standing there, unable to attack Pela and unwilling to attack Rick. So I just glared at Pela, but she smiled at me, and my glare faded. Damn Aphrodite magic. Now I found myself turning to face down the hill, and getting ready to charge into battle. No. NO. I span around and threw a dagger. It sailed through the air, cutting through a leaf that chose to fall, and slamming into Pela's body. Near her heart. Well, shit. I raced up the hill, crouching down near her and inspecting the wound. It had narrowly missed her heart, probably, but it was bleeding badly, and pulling the weapin out would just make it worse. I considered calling for Chiron, then I remembered. He's dead. Fuck it, what do I do? Camp supplies of Nectar and Ambrosia are being kept locked away, so I couldn't heal her that way, and my plasters were too small for a wound that big. Shit, this wasn't good. I thought of calling a Healer, but they were in the middle of the forest, probably fighting. Shit shit shit shit shit.

**Cliffhanger! Lol.**


	20. Desture

**Short, but cleans up the cliffhanger and expands the plot.**

"C'mon. Don't die." I muttered, not sure what else to do.

"That probably won't work." said Grace, coming up next to me.

"Shut up!" I shouted at her.

"But I know what will." she said.

"Then do it!" I shouted, backing away.

She tore off Pela's scarf and quickly pulled out the dagger, tossing it aside. Then she pressed the scarf to Pela's wound.

"Go and get Travis." she ordered.

I nodded and bolted off towards where Travis would be waiting. I darted through the trees, not literally, but... Whatever. I darted AROUND the trees, and luckily didn't bump into any monsters, or people on the other team. I burst out of the forest, panting and out of breath. Travis stood there, dual swords in his pockets and a backpack full of Ambrosia. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Someone's... wounded... badly..." I panted.

"Where?" he asked.

"Hermes Flag." I answered after catching my breath.

He sprinted off into the forest, and I rushed after him, panting heavily. By the time we got there Pela's blue scarf was soaked red with blood. Travis took off his backpack and took out two Ambrosia squares, crushing them and forcing them down Pela's throat. Afterwards he moved the scarf away and inspected the wound. It was mostly sealed, and would probably only leave an ugly scar. Being a daughter of Aphrodite, she would not be happy about that. Her eyes fluttered open.

"What..." she muttered.

"You were wounded badly. Nearly died." said Grace.

"Huh? Oh, I remember." she said, turning her head to glare at me.

"I'm sorry Pela, I didn't want to hurt you so badly." I apologised.

"Fuck off." she spat.

"Pela, I'm really, really sorry." I said again.

"Fuck off." she Charmspoke.

I turned and walked away, Capture The Flag not important to me anymore.

**Gold Warrior's POV**

This was it. We had reached the second tomb, and were ready to raise the next Ancient One. The tomb looked simmilar to Creatos' one, but as we neared random monsters and rocks exploded into microscopic particles of dust, which vanished into the harsh desert winds. Creatos was creation. This Ancient One, Desture, was destruction. His power was far superior to that of Creatos, at least in my opininon. If I didn't have Creatos' blessing, I would have stayed the Hades away from the tomb. I snarled at the thought of the God of the Underworld. He had taken so much from me - my mum, my baby sister, my only friend. All for nothing. And it would be his undoing. I found my hand resting on my the hilt of my sword. I moved it away, and walked up to the tomb. I thought back to a line from the prophecy I had heard, a prophcy that would change my life - and that of the entire world.

_The Avenger's touch shall raise them_

I was the Avenger. Out for Vengeance against the Gods, for them taking everyone I cared about from me. And it was my touch that was unsealing the Tombs, my hands that prised open the coffins, my actions bringing death raining down upon this corrupt nation. There was no other way to look at it. Jagged bolts of energy shot from the tomb. Whenever they hit a monster of non-empowered Grey Warrior, they burst out of existence. The door exploded, and I stumbled back. It was time to raise an Ancient One. I walked down the cobblestone steps, shifting to avoid dissapearing stones. I came to the bridge and walked across it, almost falling through a newly made gap. I looked around, seeing that this bridge was just lke the other. Crumbling stone chunks melded together to make a bridge, short walls raising on the sides of bridges, and torches dimly glowing on the walls, casting dark shadows around. The Coffin, though, was different. It was red, and carved with scenes of destruction - massive explosions, raging flames, meteor storms, supernovas tearing down planets. But as I walked up to it, the scenes shifted, becoming more modern. Floods rushing through cities, mushroom clouds billowing into the air, the ISS exploding and the debris raining on the planet below, nuclear generators overloading. I grabbed the handholds in the coffin, and pulled it open.

**Sorry. Don't shoot me. Just rage about every bad thing in this story. So I can fix it. Please?**


	21. Battle For Camp, Part 1

Things kept getting worse. ANOTHER one of them things was released, Pela hated me, and so did a bunch of people who heard what happened with the throwing knife, Cole filled my pillow with spiders, and a hundred other things. I considered becoming an emo, but I decided against it. The slitting wrists thing was a little extreme, and dying wasn't exactly on top of my priority list. At least me and Amber were still together, but other than that I was struggling to find positives with my life. Hades, I was struggling to find positives with the world at the moement. Mortals were being slaughtered, goods not being produced, famines spreading as farms were razed, middle eastern countries were rising up and seizing power, the UN unable to stop them, and that's just the mortal side of things. On the immortal side of things, Minor Gods were being 'killed', Olympians defeated, some Minor Gods are turning traitor. Rumours were spreading of an entire panthenon of the, things that were rampaging over America, and we had been curb-stomped by one. I snapped out of my thought chain and tried to decide what to do, but couldn't think of anything, so I just drew plans for a battle in a destroyed city between us and the army. None of them ended up with us winning. I sighed and put the pad of paper and pencil down.

I walked down to the armory and took a bag full of fake Greek Fire Bomb, and tossed them at target dummys, getting used to the weight. I pulled out the notepad inside and looked at the schematics for the range. The usual training style of going around in our cabins was abbandoned due to very few cabins havig more than two people. The kids who had scared the shit out of me during Capture The Flag had been claimed by Phobos and Deimos, the sons of Ares, gods of Horror and Fear. That made sense. I tossed a Greek Fire Bomb, and it landed next to the target. I set the targets up to move along a track and resumed throwing Greek Fire Bombs, working on my accuracy. Within an hour, I was able to hit the targets form 50 meters away while they moved at five miles per hour. It wouldn;t do in combat, but I was getting better, and by the time Olympus was seiged, which I was sure would happen, I was sure I would be a marksman with the things. Pela walked in, so I quickly left, looking down at the sand. I moved on to the Archery Range, and shot a few arrows. Amber entered, holding her personalised bow. It was gold, with smooth white stones embedded in it, and her arrows were all tipped with celestial bronze, but had smooth yellows crystals embedded in them. I hadn't see in before, so I asked about it. Kind of.

"Nice bow." I said.

"Yeah, I got it from my dad yesterday." she said.

"Cool." I replied, firing a shot.

I saw her wince out of the corner of my eye as I missed.

"Am I really that bad a shot?" I asked.

"Yeah." she laughed; "But you're a good kisser."

I proved her point for her.

"Mmm. Tasty!" she licked her lips as we pulled away from each other.

She showed me how to shoot a bit better, and I managed to decrease my average range-finding shots from three to two. She still said I was a terrible archer, but she had an unfair advantage, being a daughter of an Archery God. She seemed even more accurate than before, with her new bow. I asked if I could have a go, and she passed it over to me. This time it only took me one range-finding waste of a shot before I started hitting the target. I passed it back to her with a smile, remarking on how good it was.

"You bet it's good." she said, hitting bullseye with her eyes closed.

"I better go practice footracing." I said after a while.

"Bye." she said, giving me a kiss.

Gods, her kisses were good. I headed over to the track and ran around it as many times I could before running out of breath. And then I heard the Dragons. I glanced up and saw Golden Dragons swooping down towards the camp, being ridden by Silver Warriors, glowing blood red. One pointed at me and I dodged, knowing something bad was about to happen. The ground I was near exploded and I knew what the bad thing was. A arrow sailed up from near the Archery Range, the tip glowing. One of Amber's arrows. It hit the hilt of the Silver Warrior's sword and sent it flying away. The Silver Warriors Dragon raced after it, and I drew my sword. It was simple, non-magical, but I kept it with me all the time. I raced towards the Silver Warrior's Sword, and the Silver Warrior pointed at me. I grabbed the sword and threw it into the air. It exploded into dust. The Silver Warrior jumped 5 meters to the ground and pulled a dagger from his side. He lunged at me, trying to get over my guard. I raised my sword to block and he pointed at it. Boom. Sword=Gone.

"You are going to die." I snarled, drawing a throwing knife.

He swung at me and I blocked, then stabbed at his chest. He rolled backwards and the Dragon leapt at me. An arrow thudded into it's Silver eye, which started leaking fire. By that, I meant fire burst out of it. I hit the ground as the Dragon clashed his teeth above me, and stabbed into the bottom of it's neck, then I grabbed the arrow. It was silver and had 'The Hunt' engraved on it's shaft in Greek. Yeah, the Huntresses are still here. I slipped it roughly between two scales and then darted out from under the dragon as the ground under it burst into flames. I sprinted away from it, throwing a dagger backwards. I heard a thunk, followed by another. I pieced the two pieces of the puzzle together and worked out that - I dodged a stream of fire - worked out that my dagger had bounced off it's scales. I turned to face it, and saw Thalia and the other Huntress pelting it with arrows. A bolt of lightning hit an arrow, and it went into the Dragon's mouth. I saw it shudder, start sparking, and finally slam to the ground, disabled. I heard combat in the Armory and ran over there, picking a sword from a dead Silver Warrior.


	22. Battle For Camp, Part 2

"Run in fear." snarled the Phobos kid.

The Silver Warrior he was glaring at obeyed, and as he turned around I stabbed him in the chest, his blood exploding over the Phobos kid. He glared at me and I hastily apologized. Gods, I hate them powers. Another Silver Warrior pointed at him. I threw a dagger, which exploded. The Phobos kid charged him and tackled him to the ground. I threw a dagger at a Gorgon, hitting them in the chest and turning them to golden dust. A Golden Dragon shot towards me, breathing fire. I ran to the side, and the short, well cut grass caught fire, sending up black smoke. The gardeners will be heartbroken. Arrows flew at the Dragon, and it cocooned itself in it's wings, the arrows bouncing off. The Black Warrior stepped from the shadows and attacked me. I left the Dragon to the archers and turned to fight him as the Phobos kid ran off somewhere.

He lunged high and I blocked before stabbing at his feet, forcing him to bring his sword down. I punched him in the chest and he barely noticed. I heard a rattling behind me and kicked backwards, my foot meeting bones, which I heard crack. The Black Warrior swung right, then left, and launched into a side-to-side patterned assault. I blocked, knowing where he would strike. Then, he broke the patten and sliced my foot. I swore and stumbled back, hitting the Hypnos Cabin wall. B came out and faced the Black Warrior. I don't know what happened, but the Black Warrior fell to the ground, snoring. I turned to see the Dragon explode in midair, and charred arrows flew in every direction. A squad of Grey Warriors with glowing red hands charged us. By us, I mean me, B, Thalia and the Huntress I couldn't name. I decided to call her Hunt Girl. Yeah, not the best name ever, but I was in the middle of a battle, cut me some slack!

"Scatter!" Thalia shouted.

That was a fairly good plan, so I obeyed as the cabin behind me exploded in a rolling fireball, tossing shrapnel everywhere. A shard sliced across my cheek, and a small trickle of blood trailed out, dripping onto the charred grass.

"My bed..." B murmured.

"Do that thing again!" I ordered, batting aside an arrow.

"Huh? Oh, you mean this?" he turned to face the Grey Warriors and they started falling to the ground snoring loudly.

"Yeah... Um, how do you do that?" I asked.

"Opened my eyes." he said.

I noticed his eyes were partly closed, and realised what he meant. I want a better power, all I get is control of bloody Owls! I heard a scream from the colliseum, and raced over there, the Huntresses right behind me, and B stumbling, half asleep, along a few meters behind. I got to the entrance and rushed in, sword at the ready. Pela and one of her sisters were pinned down behind a few targets, a Silver Warrior with a glowing hand stalking towards them. Pela's sister was missing all her hair. It was an... interesting look. I concentrated and charged the Silver Warrior. He pointed at me and the air near me exploded, and a shockwave of sand sent me stumbling. The Huntresses fired at the Silver Warrior, who blasted their arrows lightning-fast. Speaking of lightning, Thalia called some down on the Silver Warrior, who swung his sword above his head. It crackled with lightning and exploded, the lightning arcing around. A swarm of Gorgons shot towards the Huntresses, who turned to the sky and fired off arrows, keeping them back. I got to my feet and grabbed a dummy Greek Fire bomb from the ground. I threw it and hit the Silver Warrior on the head. He turned to face me in time for my dagger to hit him in the face.

Pela saw me and ran out of the arena, and her sister followed me after throwing me a glare. The Huntresses, sexists they were, followed the Aphrodite girls. I headed over to the archery range to check on Amber, and maybe grab a bow. I would have gone for more knives, but the armory is on fire. Yeah, I forgot to mention that. The Phobos kid must have retreated from there to the cabins. Anyway, I burst into the Archery Range to see a Silver Warrior destroy the other door. Amber, who was still there, fired off a few shots, and the Silver Warrior destroyed the arrows. I leapt forward, kicking him to the ground. He kicked me where it hurts and I stumbled back. He grabbed me by the throat and threw me into the racks of bows, and I crashed through them. He kicked Amber in the face, and blood exploded over his foot. I was so pissed, I barely noticed leaping forward and slicing his arm off. He swore and kicked me back. Godly shit, does he feel no pain? He pointed at me and I rolled to the side, then stabbed through his chest. He collapsed to his knees. So he DOES feel pain. I sliced off his head and it hit the ground. The close up of the inside of his neck wasn't something I wanted to see.

"Thanks for saving me, knight in... average clothes." Amber said.

I laughed and we kissed, before realising the battle wasn't over and getting back to work. On fighting for Camp Half-Blood, not kissing. Obviously. I grabbed a bow and quiver of arrows and we walked out to see the battle for Camp raging on, Campers sprinitng around, taking on hordes of Gorgons and runnning from Dragons. I saw a Grey Warrior point at Rick, who fell to the ground, his spine exploding into minature shards, shooting out of his body. Damn it! Damn damn damn! I notched an arrow and fired, missing. My next one missed but the third hit the Grey Warrior in the shoulder. He turned to face me. But not Amber, who was already to his side and lunging. Her blade sunk into his side, but he just span and punched her in her already broken nose. WILL EVERYONE STOP ABUSING MY GIRLFRIEND! I dropped and arrow into his chest, and he stumbled for long enough for Amber to slice his throat open. I ran over to Amber and checked she was okay. Her beautiful face was dotted with blood and her long, golden hair had a few deep red marks, and her nose looked badly damaged, but when I offered her a plaster she turned it down. She held her hand over her nose, which slowly glowed and became slightly less obviously broken.

"That'll do for now." she said, sounding exhausted.

That's when a squad of helmeted Grey Warriors landed on a gigantic Gold Dragon. Did I mention they were all glowing red? Not just their hands, their whole bodies. Yeah. We're screwed.

**Cliffhanger! Will Camp survive? Will the Campers survive? Will Argus join the battle? Are reinforcements coming, or is everybody, as Tom put it, 'Screwed'?**


End file.
